


of sketchbooks and rainbows

by BucketLover



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Crushes, Dorks in Love, Eventual Romance, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Skipping Class, Slow Burn, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-06-29 19:35:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 21,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15735987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BucketLover/pseuds/BucketLover
Summary: Marc has a crush, Nathaniel is confused and Marinette is way too meddlesome.





	1. Apology

**Author's Note:**

> What is this? I don't know. Enjoy!

Nathaniel watched quietly as Marc was writing the ideas they came up with in his notebook. While he worked, Nathaniel would have to draw the finished designs for the characters, but he found it hard to do so since he felt like he and Marc still had some things to talk about. 

"Hey, Marc," Nathan said and the other boy raised his eyes to him in confusion. 

"What is it? Did you change your mind about how you wanted to write the akuma possession? I have some other ideas if you don't like it."

"No, it's perfect. We don't need to change anything."

"Then, what is it?" Marc asked with a puzzled expression on his face. He looked at Nathaniel who felt his cheeks heating up under his gaze. He felt embarrassed that he waited this long to apologize. 

"I'm sorry," he said. 

"For what?" Marc asked as he put his pen down. 

"Everything that happened at the park," Nathaniel began. "I know it isn't an excuse, but I genuinely believed that you guys were pranking me. Your writing was so good I thought it was Ladybug. And when I showed up at the park and it was you waiting for me and Marinette with her phone, I thought that you were making fun of me. But even so I went too far. I know how it feels like to have your art ripped to pieces by those who make fun of you and that's exactly what I did."

Marc smiled softly at him and Nathaniel felt his heart beating faster. What was happening to him, he wondered. He only ever felt that way about Marinette and Ladybug. No, that wasn't right. Nathaniel was reading too much into it. He was just anticipating the reply to his apology. He was just nervous, that's all.

"I forgive you," Marc said and Nathaniel let out a breath of relief he didn't even know he was holding in. He knew Marc would be cool with it. He wouldn't have agreed to make a comic book with him otherwise. 

"Although, it's not entirely your fault. I shouldn't have asked Marinette to talk to you for me in the first place," Marc said as he averted his gaze and scratched the back of his neck. 

"The reason I didn't do it myself was because I was scared that you wouldn't like my writing and in extension, me. I know, it's stupid," Marc said and Nathaniel widened his eyes in surprise. He knew Marc was a bit anxious over interacting with other people, Nathaniel was too, but he never thought the other boy would be afraid of his rejection. They didn't even know each other until a few days ago. 

"Ever since I found out how much I enjoy writing, I have been struggling to find inspiration. Until I saw your drawings. That's when I began writing the Journal of Ladybug. And over time I started waiting every day for you to post new art. I always looked up at you as an artist who isn't afraid to show who he is through his art and I aspired to be like you." By the time he was done, Marc's eyes shone with enthusiasm and Nathaniel was left speechless. 

Marc seemed to be suddenly snapped out of his daze as he looked at Nathaniel who didn't say anything. He couldn't believe someone thought that way about him. 

"Oh, I'm sorry," Marc averted the other boy's gaze as he started picking up the papers from the table and placing them inside his notebook in a hurry. "I made you uncomfortable. I will leave now." 

Marc shoved everything in his bag and put it over his shoulder before he stood up and walked straight towards the door. Nathaniel, realizing what was happening, stood up and grabbed Marc's hand to make him stop. Marc turned his head to look at him in confusion. For a moment, no one said anything until Nathaniel gazed at their hands and quickly moved his hand away from Marc's. 

"Sorry," he said and he felt his cheeks heating up. "You didn't make uncomfortable, I just didn't know what to say." 

Marc nodded and relaxed his posture. 

"I never had anyone tell me that I inspired them before," Nathaniel said. "I just didn't know how to react for a second there. I am flattered that you liked my art so much, but you are wrong about one thing.

"I am not the kind of confident guy, who isn't afraid of sharing his creations with other. Quite the contrary actually. Over time, I realized that if I never showed anyone what I could do, then I would end up regretting it and I decided that I wouldn't be ashamed of my works anymore. And look at me now. I am creating a comic book with the best writer in the school."

Marc blushed slightly and averted his gaze. No one had ever praised his writing like this before. He wasn't surprised though. He never shared his work with anyone before so no one could have given him an opinion. 

"Thank you for saying that," Marc said. 

"I mean it," Nath replied with a smile before he went back at the table to sit down. He took his phone and looked at the time before he jumped to his feet again. 

"Crap, I'm late," he said and then he turned to Marc. "I promised mom I would have dinner with her." Nathan quickly put his things in his bag, but before he could leave, an idea popped up in his head. 

"Hey, do you want to have dinner with us?" 

Marc widened his eyes. "Uhm, thanks for asking, but I couldn't."

Nathan looked at him puzzled. "Why not?" 

"I wouldn't want to intrude," Marc replied. "I should probably finish the story anyway and-"

"Don't be silly, Marc," Nathan said with a soft smile. "You would never intrude. Besides, mom loves it when I bring friends home."

"Friends?" Mars asked as if the word was foreign to him. 

"Well, duh, what did you think we are?"

"Working partners?" Marc said as he let his gaze fall to the floor. "I didn't think we were friends."

"Don't you want us to be?" Nathaniel asked confused. Maybe he read too much into it. Maybe Marc was still upset with him. He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by Marc who was erratically shaking his head. "No! I mean, I want us to be friends. I would love that."

Nathan sighed in relief and smiled. "Okay then, let's go." 

"What? Where?" Marc asked.

"To my place. We'll have dinner and work on the comic book afterwards. If you want of course."

Marc hesitantly nodded and Nathaniel smiled brightly at him. After they said goodbye to the rest of the people in the art room, the two of them began walking to Nathan's house having casual conversations.


	2. Lasagna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marc eats dinner with Nath and his mom, doing his best (and failing) to ignore the crush he has for the artist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2, enjoy!

Marc kept fingering the strap of his bag as he walked. He was nervous and he had every right to be. At the moment he was with Nathaniel on their way to his house to have dinner and then work on their comic book. Some other people would think nothing of it because it is something friends do, right? Well, for Marc it was a little bit different. 

It’s not like he didn’t have friends. He got along really well with some of his classmates and Marinette has always been nice to him, but he never had a friend that he could call his best friend. Like Marinette and Alya were or Nathaniel and Alix. He really wanted to be Nathaniel’s friend, but until the other boy confirmed it, only earlier that day he wasn’t sure where they stood. Sure, Nathaniel agreed to work together in the end, but that didn’t mean they were friends. 

Another thing he was nervous about was Nathaniel’s mom. Nathan didn’t text or call his mom to let her know that someone else was coming to eat with them and he was wondering whether she would be alright with Marc coming in unannounced like this. Nathaniel did say that his mother liked it when he brought home friends, but he still couldn’t help feeling nervous. 

The walk was not very long, but it was calming and when they got to Nathaniel’s apartment Marc’s nerves were almost gone. After walking up a flight of stairs, Nathan took out his key and unlocked the door. The moment the door was opened a pleasant smell came out of the apartment and Nathaniel turned to smile at Marc. 

“It’s lasagna night,” he said before entering. “Mom, I’m home!” 

Not shortly after that an older woman with bright red hair, not unlike Nathaniel’s appeared from a room. She wiped her hands on her apron and smiled widely revealing the crow’s feet near her eyes. 

“Hey Nath,” her eyes then landed on Marc and curiosity appeared on her features. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing somebody home.”

There it was. “Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to cause a problem. I’ll leave right away.”

“Mom, this is Marc,” Nathan said ignoring what Marc said. “The boy I told you about.”

The woman’s eyes brightened up even more before she spoke. “No, no, Marc. You didn’t cause any problems. My name is Adrianna. Nath told me a lot about you.”

She extended a hand for Marc to shake. He shook her hand politely, but he couldn’t help overthinking what she said. Nathaniel talked about him? What did he say?Did he say good things? Before anyone could notice his zoning out, he snapped out of his thoughts and after he took off his shoes, he followed Nathan into the kitchen. He caught a glimpse of the living room and he noticed many paintings decorating the walls. The halls were the same.

“Have a seat boys,” Adrianna said. “It’s almost done.”

Marc and Nathaniel got comfortable at the kitchen table and Marc looked around. The kitchen was full of paintings as well. He could see a few in Nathaniel’s style, but the rest he wasn’t familiar with.

“How was school, Nath?” Adrianna asked and Nath began telling her about the project they had to make for Ms. Bustier’s class. Marc took a mental note of that, because he was sure Ms. Bustier would give them the same project soon. 

Marc watched Nathaniel speak and was amazed by how different he was than at school. He was gesticulating and his eyes were shining. It was obvious that he loved his mother very much and that he felt very comfortable with her. He briefly wondered if Nathan would ever be this way with him, before pushing that thought aside. Nathan wouldn’t ever like him, _like that._

“Can you get another plate for Marc, Nath?” Adrianna said as she took out the lasagna from the oven and placed it on the table. Nath quickly got up and opened a cabinet from where he took out another plate. 

“Thank you,” Marc said after Adrianna put some Lasagna on his plate and Nathan placed it in front of him. 

“Don’t mention it,” Nathaniel said and he sat down. 

After everyone was seated at the table and the food cooled down a little bit, they began eating. When Marc took the first bite of the food he immediately decided that coming here for dinner was a great idea. 

“This is delicious,” he said a little too enthusiastically.

Adrianna laughed. “Thank you.”

“Mom makes the best lasagna,” Nath said. “Pizza too. Her pizza is the best. You should come over once when she makes it again.”

“If that’s alright then, sure,” Marc said looking at Adrianna who smiled warmly. 

“Of course it is,” she said before she took another bite. “Friends of Nath’s are always welcome here.” 

Marc smiled gratefully before he spoke. “You have a beautiful home,” Marc said mostly referring to all the paintings, since he didn’t see the rest of the apartment. “Did you make the paintings?”

“Most of them, yes and I’m proud of every single one of them. Before, I wasn’t able to fulfill my dream, but now that I am living it, as an artist with a very talented son, I am happy.” she said smiling proudly at Nathan. “He tells me you are a skilled writer. I am looking forward to see the result of you two working together.”

The rest of the meal went by as they kept chatting about the progress they made with their comic book, school and many different topics. When they were done, they cleaned up. Adrianna insisted that Marc doesn’t do anything, but he was way too stubborn and said that if he ate dinner he had to help clean up. In the end Adrianna gave in and let Marc dry the dishes while she washed them and Nathan put them back in their place. 

When they were done, they walked into the living room and Adrianna turned to them. 

“Marc how long are you allowed to stay?”

“My mom said not to stay too late and I have a bus at 7:30,” Marc said looking at the bus program that he had saved on his phone.

“You’re taking the bus?” Adrianna asked and Marc nodded. “I can drive you if you want.”

Marc averted his gaze shaking his head. “No, thank you. You did enough for me tonight. The bus stop isn’t far anyway and I’ll be home in 20 minutes. Thank you, really,” Marc said hoping that it would be enough to convince her. He really didn’t want her to go out of her way for him. 

“Ok, if you are so sure,” Adrianna said turning to Nathan. “Walk with him to the station, Nath. We have to make sure he gets home safely.”

Nathaniel nodded and Marc turned to look at him. “No, don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t want to bother you.”

Nath smiled. “It’s no bother, Marc. And I was going to come with you anyway. Wouldn’t want you to get snatched by some akuma, right?” Nathaniel smiled and Marc felt his face heating up. Why did Nathaniel have to have such nice smile? Marc tried to keep pushing those thoughts away, but it was getting increasingly harder and nothing Nathan did helped in any way.

“Ok then, I’m going to bed, now. I’m exhausted. You boys can do whatever you want just try and keep it quiet,” Adrianna said turning around to leave. She appeared to have remembered something because she turned back. “And Nathan? Be in bed by 10. It’s a school night.”

Nathan nodded and turned to Marc. 

“Come, I’ll show you my room.”

They entered Nathan’s room and Marc looked around. There was a window on the left wall. A bed in the right far corner. A small desk underneath the window and a dresser near the bed. The walls were covered in drawings of different landmarks of Paris and some famous people. There was even a giant hand drawn poster of Jagged Stone above Nathaniel’s bed. 

Marc walked up to it to get a better look and noticed besides it a smaller photograph of what appeared to be Nathan as a child and his mother smiling brightly at the camera. Upon looking closer it appeared that the photo was ripped at the left side where another person could have been.

“What happened to this photograph?” 

Nathan came to take a closer look. “I ripped away the part where my dad was. He did nothing for us, only living off my mother who worked hard every day to feed him. One day, he met another woman and left to live off her. I liked the picture of me and mom, so I just took out the part where he was.” Nathaniel’s tone was calm as he explained, but his turquoise eyes said otherwise. He was furious with his father for causing so much suffering to his mother.

Marc sighed and turned to look at the other drawings, especially Jagged Stone’s poster.

“These are so great,” Marc said attempting to ease the tension. He was successful as Nathaniel turned to him and smiled.

“Yeah, well. I didn’t want to leave the walls blank, so,” Nathaniel said as he threw his bag into one corner of the room. “Make yourself comfortable.”

Marc nodded and sat down on the chair near the desk. He took out his notebook and a pen and began writing. The words came more naturally to him now that he was in a different environment and he was glad his work was easier. He glanced at Nathaniel who was lying on his bed with his sketchbook, making the final touches to the character designs.

Sitting like this drawing, without his usual grey jacket in only a comfortable T-shirt, he seemed so concentrated. The way his eyes narrowed so slightly; the way his hand moved fluidly on the paper; the way his hair was sticking out at weird angles because of the way it hit the pillow when Nathan fell on the bed. Marc suddenly realized he was staring and moved his gaze back to his notebook. 

He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t _like_ Nathan. He admired him and his art for so long and now they were finally friends. He wanted to ignore his crush, but it was getting so hard because before, he liked the idea of Nathaniel as a good and confident artist. Now that he was getting to know him and Nathaniel feels so much more real, it is getting harder and harder to ignore his beating hard whenever Nath was around or the way his cheeks heated up when he smiled. Marc shook his head and sighed. He turned his attention to the notebook, doing his best to finish the story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really sure about this one, but it is here. I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you to all of you who left kudos and comments. Comments literally give me life <3


	3. Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathaniel walks Marc to the bus station in the rain and after learning some unexpected things about Marc he ends up saying some stuff he never thought he would say to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never worked so quickly honestly. I guess I am just very happy that you guys are enjoying it! I hope this chapter is to your liking as well! :D

Nathaniel finished drawing the last character, then he looked over at Marc who was reading over his writing in silence. 

“Hey Marc,” he said. “I’m done with the characters. Come see them.”

Marc looked up from his notebook, closed it and placed it on the desk before walking over to Nathaniel and sitting on the bed. Nathan handed him the sketchbook and Marc flipped the pages looking through the different designs.

“They look awesome,” Marc said turning the page to the Reverser. For a moment he didn’t say anything. “This is how I looked like as an akuma, right?”

Nathan nodded looking at Marc wondering what he had to say about it. “I saw some pictures online, but I tried avoiding it as much as possible. I kind of feel bad about it.”

“It’s not your fault,” Nathan said and Marc chuckled a little. 

“I know it isn’t, but I can’t help it,” Marc said. “Although, you gotta admit, I looked pretty cool.”

Nathaniel laughed. “Yeah, you got an awesome costume. Whoever Hawkmoth is he definitely has style.”

Marc brought a hand to his mouth to stifle his laugh and Nathan couldn’t help thinking that Marc really should laugh more. Nathan was torn away from his thoughts by a loud sound outside, that sounded a lot like thunder. He glanced at Marc and the two of them went towards the window. 

The sky was dark, darker than what it would normally have to be at this time and after a few moments rain came pouring down. Marc groaned. 

“Seriously? I didn’t bring my umbrella,” he said picking up his notebook. “I should probably get going.” 

Marc ripped a few pages from his notebook and placed them on Nath’s desk. “See if you like the story. You can bring it to me tomorrow and I will start working on the script.” 

Nathaniel nodded and smiled. He was sure he would like the story. He picked up his grey jacket and put it on before he and Marc left the room. He walked to his mother’s bedroom to see if she was still awake and told her that he was going with Marc. 

They got to the door and Nathaniel took the umbrella that was leaning on the hanger.. 

“We only have one,” Nathan explained. “Mine broke last week and I didn’t have time to replace it.”

Marc nodded and opened the door. They walked down the stairs in silence and after they left the building Nathaniel opened the umbrella. They were lucky that it wasn’t too windy. They walked mostly in silence with Nathan holding the umbrella. Their shoulders were brushing and for some reason Nathaniel was very aware of that. 

Suddenly, a swishing sound got their attention and they looked up in time to see Ladybug flying above them. In a second she was gone, but Nathan’s chest was filled with happiness because he was able to at least see her passing. 

“Ladybug,” he whispered out loud without meaning to. He was still in a daze after seeing the incredible girl he had a crush on. 

“Yeah,” Marc said. “You think there is an akuma?”

“Nah,” Nath replied. “If it was we would’ve known. She was probably on her evening patrol and got caught in the rain.”

“She is incredible, isn’t she?” Nathan said deep in thought.

“She is,” Marc agreed, his tone becoming a bit hesitant. “You like her, don’t you?”

Nathan nodded thinking about all the times she has saved Paris, all the times she has saved him. She was strong and beautiful and kind. 

“I uh,” Marc began and Nathan looked at him questioningly. Marc scratched the back of his neck and said. “I used to have a crush on Chat Noir.”

Now that was a surprise, Nathan thought. “Really?” he asked and Marc nodded. “Does that mean that you are like, you know, into guys?” 

“I guess?” Marc said. “I never really thought about it. I just liked whoever I liked. But now that I think about it, most of them, if not all, have been boys. You-you got no problem with that, right?” he asked unsurely

Nathan shook his head. He felt bad for it coming out that way. “No! I was just curious, that’s all,” Nathan said and Marc visibly relaxed. “So, is there anyone you like right now?” Nathan asked with a teasing smirk.

Marc hesitated before nodding. “I do, but I’m trying really hard not to like him.” 

“Why is that? Is he a jerk?”

“No. He is actually really nice,” Marc said with a small smile. Nathan looked at him and noticed the slight blush on his face. It made Nath feel odd. Not jealous, because that would be ridiculous. He decided to ignore the feeling for the time being.

“Then?” Nathan asked.

“I just… we became friends recently,” Marc began. “I really like being friends with him, so I don't want to ruin that because of a stupid crush.”

Nathaniel hummed urging Marc to continue. “But the way I like him. I never liked anyone like that. Take Chat Noir for example. With him it was more of an admiration. Thinking that he was everything I am not. Confident, charming, strong, that’s why I liked hi—”

“I think you’re charming,” Nathaniel blurted out making Marc stop in his tracks. Nathan almost dropped the umbrella after he realized what he said. He blushed and for a few moments his cheeks matched his hair. Why did he say that? He looked at Marc who was in a similar condition. 

“Uhm, I mean,” Nathaniel stuttered trying to find his words. Why did he have to say that? Oh god, he was about to say something he would regret, he was sure of it.

“You _are_ charming, just not in the way Chat Noir is. Like, like Chat Noir is, like, hot, not that I’m saying you aren’t hot! You’re like the pretty kind of hot and Chat Noir is the sexy kind. And, you know, y-you are really cute and adorable, whenever you are writing and smiling and laughing. P-pretty much all the time actually,” Nathaniel rambled only stopping after he forcingly shut his mouth so that he wouldn’t say anything else. He had no idea where all this was coming from. He, of course, meant every word, but he never thought he would tell Marc all that. 

When he looked at Marc again, his eyes were wide and his cheeks were bright red. 

“Uh, sorry,” Nathan said. 

“No! Don’t be sorry,” Marc said. “I just didn’t expect you to say all that. Uhm, thank you,” he said with a soft smile, but his blush didn’t disappear. 

They started walking again, this time the silence being awkward. Nathaniel was very happy when they reached the bus station, but a glance at Marc had him all embarrassed again. He _still_ couldn’t believe he said all that. 

“Uhm, thank you for walking with me here,” Marc said after they got under the cover of the bus stop.

“Yeah, no problem,” Nathaniel said avoiding Marc’s gaze. He took out his phone and looked at the time. 7:25. Five more minutes before the bus would come. Five more minutes of awkwardness

They sat in a very awkward silence watching the rain, until Nathan noticed the bus at waiting at the red light. He never believed he would be so happy to see a bus.

“That’s your bus, I guess,” he said making Marc turn his attention to him. “Here, have my umbrella.” 

Marc shook his head. “No, keep it. The walk to your apartment is pretty long and you’ll get soaked. I have my hoodie,” he said and Nathaniel realized that what he said made perfect sense. Nath mentally facepalmed himself feeling like he made a fool out of himself. Which wasn’t true because all he did was offer Marc his umbrella. However, at the moment, Nathan was still recovering from telling Marc everything he thought about him and couldn’t help overthinking his own actions.

“Ok,” Nathan said as the bus stopped. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

Marc smiled at him, said goodbye and got on the bus. Seeing him leave made him let out a sigh of relief. He finally felt the awkwardness in the air disperse. He turned and walked back to his apartment thinking about everything that he had said to Marc that day, wondering if things would have been turn out different if he phrased his words more carefully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nathan, your gay is showing :) Comments make me so happy, thank you to all who commented! :D <3


	4. Backtrack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette starts getting involved in Marc and Nath's relationship and Alya wants to interview them for the Ladyblog.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read this story! I love you guys! <3

The next day, Marc found himself sitting under the stairs working on the script. In the morning, he met up with Nathaniel who said that he liked the story and he couldn’t wait to get started on the drawings. Marc thanked him, took the papers and ran away as fast as possible, before Nathan could randomly compliment him again. He doubted that it was going to happen, but he had to make sure because he didn’t think his heart would be able to handle it.

Nathan said that he was “cute and adorable”. And that he was "hot in a pretty way". Marc couldn’t stop replaying those words in his head and overthinking everything. He barely got any sleep that night. 

“Hey Marc,” a voice said behind him making him jump. He turned to see Marinette smiling at him.

“Hi, Marinette,” he replied closing his notebook. 

“What are you doing here? I thought you are mostly spending your time with Nathaniel in the art room now,” Marinette said sitting down cross legged near him. 

Marc avoided her glance thinking there is no reason to beat around the bush. “Yeah, I’m avoiding Nathaniel…”

Marinette narrowed her eyebrows. “Did something happen? You seemed alright yesterday.”

“He might have said somethings about me and I can’t stop thinking about it,” Marc explained. 

“What did he say? Were they bad things?” 

“No!” Marc exclaimed. “That’s the problem. If they were bad things it would have been easier to deal with.”

“What did he say?” Marinette pushed. 

“He said I am c-cute and adorable,” Marc said his cheeks heating up. “And that I am ‘the pretty kind of hot’. Whatever that means…”

Marinette blinked. “So what’s the problem? Maybe he likes you if he said those things.”

“He doesn’t,” Marc said slumping his shoulders. “Literally a few seconds before he said he has a crush on Ladybug. So I don’t understand. If he likes Ladybug, why did he say those things to me?”

Marinette put a finger to her chin. “Do you like Nathaniel?” 

Marc blushed and nodded his head. “I’ve liked him since before you brought me to the art room and introduced me. But now that we are friends I’m trying to stop liking him because I love our friendship.”

Marinette laughed and Marc looked at her in confusion. “Did I say something funny?”

“No,” Marinette said. “Not at all. It’s just that’s not how it works. You can’t just stop liking him. Trust me, I know,” she said her eyes traveling to a blonde boy sitting on a bench. Marc immediately recognized him as Adrien Agreste and Marinette's crush. 

“So what should I do?” Marc asked. 

“You can’t avoid him forever,” Marinette said. “Accept that he said those things and move on. If you really want to keep being friends with him you can’t let this get between you." Marinette winked. "Or, you could tell him how you feel, your choice.” 

Marintte finished and got up. “I gotta go now. I’m meeting up with Alya for lunch. Don’t worry, whatever you choose to do, things will turn out just fine.”

Marc nodded and smiled. “Thank you.”

“And for the record, I think you would make a really cute couple,” Marinette said with a smile and in a few seconds she was gone. Marc blushed and turned his gaze to the floor. 

She was right, Marc thought. He couldn’t hide from Nathaniel forever. Better to just get it over with now. He picked up his things, shoved them in his bag and made his way towards the art room.

He said a brief hello to the teacher, Rose and Juleka before he sat down at the table waiting for Nathaniel. He didn’t wait for long and Nathan walked into the art room with Alix. He seemed surprised to see Marc there, but he smiled. He smiled that adorable smile of his and Marc blushed, not being able to stop himself. 

“Hi, Nathan,” Marc said almost in a murmur thinking about how to approach his friend.

“Hey,” Nathaniel said sitting down near him. “I barely saw you today, I thought you are were upset with me or something.” 

“No, no. I was just working hard on the script and lost track of time,” Marc lied. He definitely didn’t want Nathaniel to know that what he said affected him this much. 

“Alright then,” Nath said. “I just hope you weren’t avoiding me.”

Marc blinked and let out a forced laugh. “No way! Why would you think that?” 

Nathan sighed and Marc mentally facepalmed. Why was he so bad at this? "Look, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable saying all that stuff. Heck, I didn’t even mean to say all that stuff. Ok, I meant what I said, but I didn’t want to say them. So can we pretend that it never happened?”

Marc nodded. “Yes, please” Marc replied feeling relieved. Maybe now that he knew how Nathan felt about it, it would be easier to forget about it. Nathan smiled and opened his sketchbook. Marc got back to his story enjoying the silence, that wasn’t awkward for once. A little while later, they said goodbye to each other to return to their classes and after classes were over, Marc started heading home when someone called his name.

“Hey, Marc!” Marc turned to see Marinette waving towards him and he quickly went her way. He noticed Alya next to her. Marc has met her before, but they didn’t really talk all that much.

“Hello,” he said and the girls greeted him back. 

“So did you talk with Nathan?” 

“Yes,” Marc replied. 

“And?”

“We agreed to forget that it never happened,” Marc replied with a smile that quickly disappeared when he noticed Marinette’s dumbfounded face. “What?”

“You were not supposed to do that!” Marinette yelled in exasperation. “That is backtracking. You are backtracking.”

“What was I supposed to say to him? ‘The fact that you said those things about me makes me so happy because I’ve had a crush on since before we've even met’?”

“When you put it like that…” Marinette trailed off. “But you should have said something. You should have asked him how he feels about you.”

“I could never do that!” Marc exclaimed. “Imagine if I asked him and he said that he doesn’t like me and then he would figure out why I asked him. He’ll know I like him and I will have to lock myself in my room forever so I won’t have to face him ever again!” 

Alya who watched the whole exchange in silence, burst out in laughter. Marc and Marinette looked at her. 

“Wow, you’ve really got it bad, don’t you?” Alya asked Marc and he groaned. 

“Oh my god, I do! What do I do?” 

“Ok, Marc just calm down,” Marinette said Alya laughed again. 

“You’re one to talk, girl? You’re exactly like this with Adrien,” she stated. “Maybe you shouldn’t advice poor Marc, since you are still the single one with a big crush.”

Marinette pouted. “I was just trying to help.”

“Actually,” Marc said. “Alya is right. How about you let me handle this on my own. Last time you helped me I was kind of akumatized, so…”

“Alright, fine,” Marinette said. “What will you do?”

“No idea. I’ll just ignore the crush. It will have to go away eventually, right?” 

Alya shook her head. “I don’t think it works like that, but good luck. Good decision not letting Marinette help.” 

“Hey!” Marinette protested earning a laugh from Alya. “Whatever, let’s go Alya. Nino is probably waiting for us.”

“Ok, bye Marc,” Alya said. 

“Bye and good luck,” Marinette said with a smile. 

“Thanks. I’ll see you around,” Marc replied turning around to leave for his home. 

A couple weeks had passed and they were finally done with the comic. With the help of Marinette and, surprisingly, Adrien they found some sponsors and managed to publish the first issue of Ladybug. 

Marc was really happy that they managed to do it. He didn’t doubt they would be able to, but now that he could hold the physical issue of the comic in his hand he felt a kind of pride that he didn’t know he would ever feel about himself. 

Things went well with Nathan as well. They got back to being friends and Marc couldn't be happier. Although, deep down he still wished for something more. _Stop_ , he thought. He couldn't think like this.

Sitting in the art room, thinking of all this he didn’t notice when someone appeared next to him. 

“Hello, Marc,” he looked up in time to see Alya waving and smiling at him. 

“Oh, hello Alya. Marinette just left,” he said.

“I’m not here for Marinette,” Alya said and Marc looked at her in confusion. “I’m here to talk to you.”

“Me?” 

“Well, you and Nathaniel, but he left the classroom before I could catch him. I want to make an interview for the Ladyblog,” Alya explained excitedly.

Marc looked at her confused. “Ok? What do you need us for?”

“I want to interview _you_ , silly,” Alya said picking up the copy of the comic that was in front of Marc. “I want to know the story behind ‘Ladybug’. How the two of you came to be, how you work. I read the comic and it is awesome.”

“Uhm, thank you. I-I don’t know," Marc mumbled still not used to the complimets. "I have to talk to Nathan and—”

“Great,” Alya interrupted. “Why don’t you two come to my place at 4 tomorrow, yeah? Marinette will give you my address. Is that good? Ok, bye!”

 _What just happened?_ Marc wondered as Alya left out the door. He took out his phone to text Nathan.

> **You (15:38)**  
>  Hello, Nathan.  
>  Something kind of happened.
> 
> **Nathaniel (15:40)**  
>  what?  
>  is everything ok?
> 
> **You (15:40)**  
>  Yes. It's just Alya came by the art room today and I think she wants to interview us for the Ladyblog.
> 
> **Nathaniel (15:41)**  
>  what did you say to her?
> 
> **You (15:41)**  
>  I told her that I have to speak with you, but she just assumed I agreed and told me to be at her place at 4 tomorrow. With you.
> 
> **Nathaniel (15:41)**  
>  hahaha  
>  thats why you need to be more confident when you talk to people
> 
> **You (15:42)**  
>  I don’t want to hear that from you, Mr. I-can’t-even-buy-a-movie-ticket.
> 
> **Nathaniel (15:42)**  
>  that wasnt my fault  
>  that cashier was really mean  
>  you saw how she looked at me
> 
> **You (15:43)**  
>  Ok, fine.  
>  So anyway, the interview.
> 
> **Nathaniel (15:43)**  
>  right i guess we could do it  
>  not too happy about it but since alya is going to be waiting for us  
>  are you cool with it?
> 
> **You (15:44)**  
>  I am if you are.
> 
> **Nathaniel (15:44)**  
>  …  
>  we dont have to do this if you dont want to
> 
> **You (15:44)**  
>  I do.  
>  It will be fun.
> 
> **Nathaniel (15:45)**  
>  (-.-)  
>  alright fine  
>  if you are so sure you want to do this…  
>  anyway gotta go now  
>  talk later
> 
> **You (15:45)**  
>  Ok, we’ll talk later.

Marc put his phone down with a sigh. It was true that he didn't really want to be filmed answering questions for a bunch of strangers on the internet, but it was a good opportunity to gain a fanbase. People who will want to read the comic book when they release new issues.

Marc took his bag and left the art room in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter doesn't seem like much, but it is necessary because *drum roll* I FINALLY HAVE A PLOT PLANNED! Wow, bet ya weren't expecting that. :D


	5. Interview

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Alya's interview goes wrong, Marc and Nathaniel spend some time with each other and Marc learns that Nathan isn't that confident guy he thought he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have this. Enjoy!!!

Nathaniel entered the art room accompanied by Marinette. Classes finished pretty late that day so if they left now they would arrive at Alya’s just before 4 o’clock. She already went ahead to set everything up. When Marc noticed them, he gathered his things and after approaching them he gave Nath a quick hug. 

Something Nathan learned about Marc was that the closer he got to someone the more touchy-feely he became with them. He would often hug Nathaniel or lean his head on his shoulder when he was really tired.The first time it happened, Marc did it unconsciously and when he realized it he wouldn’t even look at Nathan until he was convinced that the artist wasn’t bothered by it. Alix looked at him funny then, because normally he did mind. He wasn’t one for physical contact, but, somehow, he was ok with Marc hugging him or leaning on him from time to time. 

Marc greeted Marinette and she gave him a weird smile that made Marc blush and look away. He wondered what that was about, but he couldn’t ask because Marinette began leading the way out the art room. They walked, chatting about different things. Like what they are going to include in the next issue, or wondering if Ladybug and Chat Noir have already read it. 

When they reached Alya’s apartment, she smiled brightly at them and ushered them inside telling them that they don’t have more than an hour until her parents and sisters came back from the movies. 

She brought them to her room and Marc and Nathan sat down on the bed while Marinette and Alya messed with the lights. Nathaniel didn’t know Alya had such professional equipment and he wondered what she used it for. Maybe she was dreaming of the day she would interview Ladybug and Chat Noir themselves. 

Nathan was feeling quite nervous since he wasn’t a fan of being in the center of attention. When he got the message from Marc telling him what Alya asked he thought it was a good opportunity for other people to learn about their comic book, but he didn’t really want so many people watching him answering questions about himself. 

In a few minutes, Alya was seated in front of them with a camera and a piece of paper full of questions. She turned the camera towards her and made a quick introduction. 

“Hello Ladyblog,” she began. “My name is Alya and I am here with Marc Anciel and Nathaniel Kurtzberg, the authors of ‘Ladybug’. Today, you will find out here the story behind the comic and its creators and what we have to look forward to in the future.”

She handed the camera to Marinette and turned to Marc and Nathaniel. 

“So, boys,” she said with a smile. “‘Ladybug’ has been very successful so far, hasn’t it?” 

“Well, I wouldn’t say successful,” Nathan said quietly.

“Yeah… a few people read it,” Marc completed.

“A few people?” Alya asked “Our whole school read it and many other people of Paris, as well. ‘Ladybug’ has been a success and many are looking forward to a second issue. What can you tell us about that?”

“Oh, uhm, we began working on it. We are deciding on a plot right now,” Nathan said. 

“Yeah,” Marc continued. “If… if everything goes well you can expect a second issue soon.”

“That’s great,” Alya said with a smile. “I’m sure everyone is looking forward to that. So, Nathaniel, tell us about your art. When did you begin drawing?”

“Oh, uhm, I… I’ve been drawing since I was a-a child. M-My mom is an artist and I take after her,” Nathan stuttered trying to look anywhere, but at the camera. He felt Marc’s gaze on his and he wondered what would he think of this lame Nathaniel who can’t even talk properly. 

“Awesome!” Alya exclaimed turning her attention to Marc. “How about you, Marc? When did you start writing?”

“A few years ago, when I, uhm, thought about how awesome it would be if I… if I could,” Marc trailed off before he suddenly jumped off the bed. “I’m sorry I can’t do this,” he said and ran past the door. 

Alya blinked and looked at Nathaniel who made a decision. “He is right, I can’t either. Not, not like this. I know we promised and I’m really sorry” Nathan said and Alya nodded with an understanding smile. 

“It’s ok,” she said. “We’ll figure something else out.” 

Nathan left following Marc, knowing that he wouldn’t have gone far without his bag. He found him sitting on the stairs in the entryway watching the traffic. Nathan sat down near him and for a few moments he didn’t say anything. 

“You ok?” Nathan asked and Marc nodded. 

“I’m so sorry,” Marc said and Nathan shook his head. 

“Why are you apologizing? If you wouldn’t have got up like that, probably I would’ve. I hate stuff like cameras and, you know, being the center of attention,” Nath explained. “I’d rather sit in the back and draw.”

“Yeah, me too,” Marc said with a smile. “I’ve never seen you like that.”

“So uncool?” Nathan asked with a small laugh and Marc shook his head. 

“No, that wasn’t uncool. For a long time, I just, I looked up to you. So seeing you act all shy and stuttering it just made me feel better knowing that I am not the only one who feels like that. The two of us might joke around sometime, but I’m really not a confident guy and I look at others seeing them being all outgoing and I wish that I could be like that too.”

“Yeah, I know how that feels like,” Nathan said looking at the ground. “You said you’ve never seen me like that. That’s because you’ve barely seen me outside the art room or my home. I can be comfortable with myself there. And if I’m being honest, when I’m with you I try to go that extra mile and try to look even cooler.”

Marc looked at him raised an eyebrow and only then did Nathaniel realize what he said. Over the past few weeks he became aware of how weird he felt whenever Marc was around, but he didn’t really know why. Sometimes he just felt like saying stuff like that to Marc, but most times he managed to control himself. Now was one of the times he wasn’t able to do it. 

“Uhm, I mean, you are a great writer, so I think you’re cool. I want you to think I’m cool, too,” he said congratulating himself for the great save. Marc blushed a little at the compliment and turned his gaze to look at the ground. 

Nathan took this opportunity to admire how beautiful Marc really was. His green eyes framed by long lashes; his black hair that looked so soft. Nathan found himself wanting to run his fingers through Marc’s hair many times and he had no idea where that urge came from. He noticed his pink lips and upon looking closer he saw how shiny they were. A thought struck him then.

“Hey, Marc,” he said and Marc hummed. “Are you wearing makeup?”

Marc looked at him again and slowly nodded his head. “Why are you asking?” he asked.

“No reason,” Nath said. “I just noticed. Did you put it on for the interview?”

“No,” Marc answered looking confused. “I’m always wearing it.”

“Really?” Nathan asked wondering how he had never seen it before. Probably because it was so subtle that it wasn’t noticeable and Nathan was sure Marc would be just as pretty without the makeup. _Wow_ , Nath thought, _where did that come from?_  
”I never noticed,” Nathan said pulling away from his thoughts, doing his best to keep his cheeks from heating up. 

“That’s because you’ve never looked at me like that before,” Marc said mirroring Nathan’s speech from before and Nath widened his eyes. Did Marc see that?

“You saw that?” he voiced his question and Marc nodded. 

“You weren’t exactly subtle,” Marc replied. 

Nathan groaned and facepalmed. “You probably think I am a creep,” he said resting his face in his hands looking at the ground. “Can you just pretend that I never did that, please?”

“Yeah… Sure.” Marc’s voice was hesitant as he spoke.

He suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder and realized it was Marc resting his head. “You’ve done creepier things, anyway,” he said almost laughing.

“What?” Nathan said with a smile before he burst into laughter followed by Marc.

They laughed for a few minutes, passerbys looking at them weirdly before they finally calmed down sitting as they’ve done before their little moment with Marc resting his head on Nathan. 

“Should we go back?” Marc asked breaking the silence.

“Only if you are ok,” Nathan replied remembering the way Marc left the room. “What was that about?”

Marc sighed. “I just didn’t want everyone knowing that I started writing so that I could create other worlds. So that I could have control in my life over _something_. It sounds so lame and desperate.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Nath said truthfully. “It sounds kinda cool.”

“Really?” Marc asked and Nathan nodded. “Ok then, let’s go back. I want to apologize to Alya.” 

They went back in the apartment and Marc apologized although Alya said there was nothing to apologize for. They settled for Alya giving them a list of questions that they will email her the answers to and she will post them. They said their goodbyes and left. When Nathan and Marc parted, Nathan surprised Marc and even himself when he initiated their usual hug leaving Marc speechless. Which Nathan had to admit was pretty cute. 

He walked back home still feeling the Marc’s warmth, thinking that he wouldn’t mind hugging him more often.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are interviews? How do you even write them? Anyway, thank you so much for reading! Thanks for all the kudos and comments! You guys are amazing <3


	6. Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Alix make a plan to get Nathaniel and Marc together and the boys have ice cream at André.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "You can't just come out of nowhere with a long and fluffy chapter to compensate for about a week of nothing!" -I said as I did just that.

Marinette crouched behind the bush watching Nathaniel and Marc chatting near the fountain. She knew that what she was doing wasn’t exactly the ideal way of learning about Nath’s and Marc’s relationship and that it wasn’t any of her business, but she couldn’t bear to watch the romantic tension anymore.

“What are you doing?” Tikki asked flying up to rest on her shoulder.

“I’m trying to find a way to get those two together,” Marinette explained as she was pointing at Nathan and Marc who were both laughing at something on Marc’s phone, unaware of the girl watching them from the bushes.

“Didn’t Marc say he didn’t need your help?” Tikki asked with a small frown.

“Yes, he did say that, but if I leave them alone 50 years will pass before they will realize their feelings for each other.”

“Maybe you are exaggerating a little bit,” Tikki said smiling at Marinette. “Plus, you don’t even know that Nathaniel likes Marc, right?”

“Oh, please Tikki, can’t you see how he looks at him?” Marinette said pointing at Nathan who was curiously looking over Marc’s shoulder, reading something on his phone. “They are so in love with each other. The problem is they don’t know it.”

“If you say so, Marinette,” Tikki said, “but maybe it is not the best idea to get involved.”

“Ok, maybe last time I made some mistakes, but that won’t happen again,” Marinette said confidently.

“How do you know that?” Tikki asked.

“Because I won’t do anything for them anymore,” Marinette explained. “They will do all the work, I will just push them in the right direction.”

Tikki opened her mouth to say something before she noticed something in the distance and quickly flew into Marinette’s purse.

"Marinette? What are you doing?”

The voice was amused and when Marinette looked at the source of it, she realized it was Alix.

“Oh, Alix,” she said laughing. “I was just inspecting these leaves.” She took a leaf in her hand and nodded approvingly.

Alix raised an eyebrow and looked around with a small frown. She turned back to Marinette. “I can’t see Adrien anywhere.”

Marinette looked at her in confusion. “Because he isn’t here?”

“Then what are you doing in the bushes?” Alix asked.

“What? You thought I was spying on Adrien or something?”

Alix nodded and Marinette blinked.

“Where did you get that idea from? I am not some creepy stalker!” Marinette said in her defence and Alix crossed her arms. “Yeah ok, fine. I might have admired him from afar a couple of times, but that’s not the point.”

Alix laughed. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m just trying to figure out a way to get them together,” Marinette said as she nodded towards the two boys.

Alix turned to look at Marc and Nathan. “You see it, too, right?”

Marinette nodded. “It’s so obvious and Marc even admitted that he likes Nathaniel, but he won’t do anything about it.”

“When I asked Nath about it, he turned all defensive and said that, and I quote, he ‘is straight and not in love with Marc’,” Alix said.

Marinette let her gaze fall to the ground in disappointment. “Did he say that? If he is straight then I guess there is nothing we can do. And poor Marc, he really likes Nath.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Alix said with a smirk. “Nathan thinks he is straight, but I’m not so sure.”

“How come?” Marinette raised an eyebrow.

Alix laughed. “Did you see how he draws guys? There is _no way_  he is straight. Although, he is stubborn, so unless we intervene nothing will change between them.”

Marinette nodded her head before she stopped abruptly. “Wait, _we_? You want to help?”

“Duh.” Alix shrugged. “Nath’s been through enough heartbreak. That Marc guy is really nice and you said he likes him. Match made in heaven.”

Marinette beamed at Alix. “Let’s do this,” she said.

“Yeah, but get up from there already,” Alix said and Marinette laughed anxiously. “Anyway, I have to meet up with them now, to help with something about the comic book. They would have probably noticed me by now if they weren’t so immersed in each other. So just leave now before they see you and we’ll make a plan later.”

Marinette nodded and waved at Alix as she left.

“Tikki, I got an ally,” she whispered to her kwami and Tikki giggled.

“Yes, Marinette. I think you can pull this off,” she said with a laugh.   

The next day, when Marinette noticed Alix entering the locker room she said goodbye to Alya and approached her. She sneaked behind her in an inconspicuous manner before she leaned in and whispered towards Alix making her jump.

“So,” Marinette said and Alix turned around pushing her lightly.

“Don’t do that!”

Marinette laughed. “Sorry!”

Alix rolled her eyes. “What is it?”

“Do you have any idea how to start ‘Operation: Rainbow Tomato’?”

Alix gaped at her. “Did you just say ‘Operation: Rainbow Tomato’? Really?”

“Yeah, because Marc’s name means rainbow and Nathan’s hair makes him look like a-”

“I know that!” Alix exclaimed. “But seriously ‘Rainbow Tomato’?” Marinette nodded.

“Ok fine, have it your way. No, I didn’t think about it,” Alix said crossing her arms.

“How about we get them to go on a date?” Marinette proposed. “Just the two of them, with a romantic environment, maybe that will create a spark.”

Alix put a finger to her chin and nodded. “Yeah, maybe. How about we get them to André’s? I know Nath is secretly dreaming of the day he will share ice cream with his lover there. Maybe that will make him at least see Marc differently.”

Marinette’s eyes glinted with enthusiasm. “That’s perfect!” she exclaimed a little too loudly earning the attention of the other students. “Ok let’s do it like this. I convince Marc to hang out on Saturday and you talk to Nath.”

Alix nodded and with a smile, Marinette left to talk to Alya again. Later that day, she went to Marc’s classroom and found him sitting in the back with his notebook. He walked to him and got his attention.

“Hey, Marc,” she said and he jumped. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“That’s ok,” Marc replied closing his notebook. “What is it?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to hang out on Saturday.”

Marc raised an eyebrow. “How come?”

“I just realized we never see each other much outside school and I thought it would be nice to hang out,” Marinette explained with a smile.

“Ok, sure,” Marc said smiling back.

“Perfect,” Marinette said. “I’ll text you the time and place and we’ll meet Nathan and Alix then.”

Marc looked at her in confusion. “Nathan and Alix are coming?” He narrowed his eyes. “Are you planning something?”

“What? No way!” Marinette exclaimed. “I just thought it would be nice to get to know each other better, you know? Anyway, I have to go. Bye!”

With that she was gone hoping that she didn’t reveal his intentions to Marc. When Saturday came, before they were supposed to meet up, Marinette checked André’s location like ten thousand times just to make sure he would be where she thought he would be. After texting Marc that they would meet near the Trocadéro she set out to put her plan in motion.

Marinette arrived early and decided to sit down on a bench before Marc arrived as well, a few minutes later. She smiled at him and called him over to sit down with her before Nathan would arrive. Alix would convince Nath that some other stuff came up and that he should go alone. The plan was for Marinette to lead the two to André’s and after making an excuse to leave, she would meet up with Alix and watch from afar.

“So what are we going to do?” Marc asked.

“Oh, you’ll see,” Marinette replied with a smile before she noticed Nathan walking towards them. “There is Nath. Let’s go.”

Marinette grabbed Marc’s wrist and pulled him towards Nathan. When they arrived, Marc hugged Nathan and Marinette really wondered how they could be so oblivious about their reciprocated feelings.

“Alright, let’s go guys,” Marinette said full of enthusiasm. Marc looked at Nathan in confusion.

“Where is Alix?”

“She said something came up,” Nathan said with a shrug.

Marc turned to look at Marinette questioningly. She raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Marc shook his head. “Nothing, let’s go.”

“Where are we going? Alix wouldn’t tell me anything,” Nathan said.

“I don’t know either,” the other boy remarked eyeing Marinette in the same way he had done before. “Someone is being very secretive.”

Marinette smiled before she took off, followed by the two confused boys. They made their way to André’s cart, but before they reached it she took out her phone and pretended to check her notifications.

“Oh, mom called me,” she lied looking at Marc who widened his eyes in realization. Following his gaze he noticed that he was looking at André and Marinette hoped that it wouldn’t make him back off.

Marinette hit her forehead with her palm startling both Marc and Nathaniel. “I totally forgot I promised my parents to help them with the bakery today. I’m really sorry. Don’t let me stop you, though. Go have some ice cream without me.”

With that she ran away leaving behind the bewildered boys. She found a place where she could see them, but they wouldn’t notice her. She frowned when she didn’t see Alix anywhere. Suddenly, Tikki got out of her bag.

“Let’s hope this works,” Tikki said with a giggle before she rested on Marinette shoulder.

“It has to!” Marinette exclaimed watching the boys chat for a few moments before they started heading towards André’s cart.

 

* * *

 

 

 _This is bad_ , Marc thought. _this is really bad._

He was currently walking towards André’s ice cream cart with Nathaniel. He was going to eat Paris’ famous couple ice cream _with Nathaniel_.

If he wasn't feeling so nervous he would be furious at Marinette for doing this, but deep down he was somewhat grateful. Even if Nathan wouldn’t even like him, he would get to eat ice cream with him which was more than he could have ever hoped for.

They reached the cart and when André spotted them he smiled brightly.

“Ah welcome,” he said picking up his spoon. “Never seen you two before. What’s your names?”

“Marc,” he only muttered earning him a curious glance from Nathaniel.

“I’m Nathaniel,” he said with a smile. “I always wanted to try your ice cream.”

“Well then, you’re in luck,” André said taking a cone. “Let’s see now. Red strawberries and green lime, like the one with who you spend all of your time.”

He handed the ice cream to the two of them and Marc widened his eyes. He immediately felt his face heating up. Did André think they were…?

“Thanks,” Nathan laughed as he took it. He looked at Marc and frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“Uhm, we aren’t actually a couple,” Marc muttered and André looked at him confused.

“Oh, really?” he asked frowning. “Huh, I was never wrong until now.”

Noticing that Nathan was silent Marc glanced at him and noticed his bright red face as he looked at the ice cream in his hand. His mouth formed a silent “oh” as he realized what the colours represented. Red for Nathan’s hair and green for Marc’s eyes.

He looked back at André who was smiling widely at them. He _did_ say that he had never been wrong before. Does that mean? No. Marc couldn’t think like that. Nathan was just a friend. A really good friend. A really good friend with a cute smile and warm embrace and soft-looking hair and −  _No, Marc. Stop_

“Even so,” André began, the smile not leaving his face. “Just eat the ice cream. I’m sure the flavours will be to your taste.”

Marc glanced at Nathan who didn’t move or say anything. He only started at the ice cream. Marc put a hand to his shoulder.

“Are you ok?”

Nathan jumped. “Yes, I’m fine.” He picked up a small plastic spoon and took a bite of the lime ice cream. “This is delicious,” he said his face slowly returning to his normal color.

Marc reached out and tasted the strawberry cream which felt very sweet on his tongue. He wondered if a kiss from Nathan would taste that sweet before he felt his face heating up the thought.

He looked at André who was smiling brightly before he reached into his bag and gave him a few euros. Nathan took some money from his pocket as well, but Marc raised a hand to stop him.

“It’s ok,” he said.

“Are you sure?” Nath asked.

“Obviously,” he said grabbing the ice cream from his hand and taking another bite. “Plus, I’m planning on eating the whole thing by myself.”

Nathan widened his eyes playfully before he tried to snatch the cone back, but Marc, being taller, placed it above his head and laughed at Nathan’s attempt to reach for it without damaging it. Before he knew it, Nathan’s face was just a few centimeters away from his and Marc’s smile froze. He could see every single freckle decorating his fair face.  

He glanced into Nathaniel’s turquoise eyes feeling the blush appearing on his face again. Nathan was in a similar state, but neither of them moved away until Marc turned his gaze away and awkwardly coughed into his fist.

Nathaniel suddenly took a lot of interest into his shoes and Marc remembering that they were not alone looked at André who had a knowing smile on his face.

“Uhm,” Marc broke the silence. “Do you wanna sit down somewhere?”

Nathan nodded and after saying a brief goodbye to André they went to eat their ice cream in a very awkward silence.

 

* * *

 

 Marinette smiled. It went better than she could have ever expected. She took out her phone to text Alix.

> **You (16:21)** Operation: Rainbow Tomato, Phase: 1  
>  A success  
> 
> 
> **Alix (16:22)**  
>  glad to hear it  
>  sorry i couldnt make it my dad held me up for real  
> 
> 
> **You (16:22)**  
>  No worries  
> 
> 
> **Alix (16:23)**  
>  how did it go  
> 
> 
> **You (16:23)**  
>  It was great!  
>  André got them the ice cream and neither of them could stop flushing  
>  At one point, they ended up so close I was sure they were going to kiss  
> 
> 
> **Alix (16:23)**  
>  hmm i guess it was better than i expected it to turn out  
>  now lets just hope things will go better from here  
> 
> 
> **You (16:24)**  
>  Yeah…  
>  As long as they stop being so stubborn everything should turn out well in the end  
> 
> 
> **Alix (16:24)**  
>  i dont think they will stop  
>  im sure in the end it will just come down to us  
> 
> 
> **You (16:24)**  
>  Let’s hope not  
>  I think we gave them something to think about anyway  
> 
> 
> **Alix (16:25)**  
>  yep im gonna ask nath on monday  
>  cant wait to see him turn into a blushing mess  
>  anyway, well talk later  
> 
> 
> **You (16:25)**  
>  Yeah, sure  
>  See you!  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't bear to look at it anymore so there might be a few mistakes. Thank you so much for 100+ kudos. Very unexpected tbh. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed it.


	7. Crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alix helps Nathaniel realize he has a crush on Marc and Marc didn't sleep all that well a night before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Thank you by the way for all the feedback and kudos and hits! You guys are awesome! Please enjoy!

Nathaniel was drawing in his notebook in the art room. Marc wasn’t there yet since Nath arrived at school earlier than he usually did. The reason for that was all of the things he couldn’t stop thinking about. 

Since a couple of days ago, when him and Marc had eaten ice cream at André’s he couldn’t stop thinking about the writer. After messing around, he ended up really close to him and he could perfectly see those beautiful and deep, green eyes. He couldn’t stop thinking about drawing him since then. He tried to distract himself by working on the comic book, but he couldn’t get it out of his head, no matter how hard he tried. In the end he couldn’t resist anymore and he decided to finally do it. 

That’s what he was doing at the moment, always looking around himself to make sure no one would see what he was working on. He would much rather die than show anyone what he was drawing at the moment. 

Another problem was André thinking Marc and him were a couple. André usually knew that stuff so did that mean that he and Marc could have that kind of relationship? It is true that Nathan felt differently when he was with Marc than he did around anyone else, but could he _like_ Marc? He wasn’t even gay. He didn’t like guys, so how could he like Marc then?

The door to the art room opened and Nathan glanced at it noticing Alix. He immediately closed his sketchbook and hid it under his arms quickly. Alix had asked him if he liked Marc before, but he just brushed it off. Did it really appear that way to others?

“Yo,” Alix said eyeing Nathan’s sketchbook. 

He waved at her before he realized Alix’ intention. She quickly bend over the table and took the notebook in her hands. Nathan sighed and defeated, he buried his face in his hands knowing he had no way of stopping her. She flipped through the notebook’s pages.

“What was so embarrassing that you had to hide it the moment I entered?” Alix said with a smirk before she found the drawing he was working on. It wasn’t anything special, just Marc sitting at his desk and writing. 

Alix’ smirk widened. “You drew Marc, huh? How did your date go on Saturday?”

Nathan blushed. “Date? It wasn’t a date!”

“Sure it was,” Alix said nonchalantly. “Marinette and I planned it _all_ out.”

“You were behind that?!” Nathan asked standing up. 

Alix laughed at his reaction. “What? Don’t tell me you didn’t have fun.”

Nathan blushed and sat down again. “That’s not the point,” he muttered. “Did you talk to André beforehand to make the ice cream for us?”

A ray of hope appeared. Maybe André didn’t really see them as a couple. Maybe he was wrong about that. He didn’t like Marc then. Everything was perf—

“Nope,” Alix said with a knowing smile, shattering Nathan’s hopes. “He knows that stuff. He could just see there was something there.”

“There is nothing there! I’m not even…” Nathan trailed off unsurely. 

“Gay? Of course you aren’t. You like girls. You also like guys. Big deal,” Alix said with a shrug. “Just admit you like Marc already. Everyone knows it except for you.”

“Wait. You think that he knows too?” Nathan asked in disbelief.

Alix shook her head. “There is no way he does. You two are the most oblivious people, probably in the whole world. Actually, nevermind that’s Marinette and Adrien.”

Nathaniel half heartedly laughed before he turned his gaze back to the sketchbook in his hand. “You really think I like him?”

Alix sighed and sat down besides him. “Well, it is obvious there is _something_ to make you look at him like that. Although, only you can know how you feel about it. But think about it, would liking him be such a bad thing?”

Alix put her hand on Nathan’s shoulder in comfort. It wasn’t a gesture that she did often. Their relationship wasn’t all that physical, but this time Nathan was grateful to have the physical reassurance that she would be there for him, no matter what. 

After staying silent for a few seconds a small smile appeared on his face. “No, of course not. Marc is great. He is sweet and cute and kind…”

His smile widened before he nodded. He took a deep breath before he spoke. “I think I do. I think I like Marc.”

Alix smiled triumphantly before standing up. “You _think_? Just say it already! You have a crush on Marc!” 

Alix said that a little bit too loud as Marinette walked into the art room. Her eyes lit up in excitement.

“You have a crush on Marc?” she asked and Nathaniel gaped at her. 

He glanced around the room seeing Rose and Juleka wearing headphones and the teacher who was sitting at the desk, in the corner, probably didn’t hear anything. Or if he did, he didn’t show it. Nathaniel was glad since he didn’t want others to find out about his newly discovered crush. 

After relaxing a little, he turned back to Alix and with a deadpan expression he spoke. “Jee, Alix. Why don’t you yell it a little bit louder. I don’t think the mayor has heard you.”

Alix laughed and apologized. Marinette who watched the whole exchanged smiled brightly at Nath’s unspoken confirmation.

“So what are you going to do?” she asked a little too excitedly. 

“Nothing!” Nathan said making both of the girls to raise their eyebrows in confusion. “He likes some other guy. He told me that himself. I’m used to my romantic feelings not being returned. Everything’s fine.”

Marinette smiled apologetically at Nathan’s words, before a loud yawn got their attention. They turned to see Marc walking in with a paper cup of something in his hand and big, dark bags under his eyes. He gave a half hearted greeting before he sat down. Nath barely had time to react and close his sketchbook before Marc could see, but since the writer was already half dead, the sudden and rushed motion did not seem suspicious to him. 

Nathan peeked in Marc’s cup before he said, “Is that coffee?”

Marc nodded, bringing the cup to his lips and taking a small sip. “It’s my second one.”

“Second?” Nathan gasped. “Why? Are you ok?”

“I didn’t sleep all night,” Marc replied. “It’s taking all my energy not to fall asleep right now.”

“What happened?” Marinette asked concerned. 

“I’d rather not say,” Marc said. “If that’s ok.”

Everyone around him nodded. Alix patted Marc on the back before she picked up a spray can. “Well then, zombie. Good luck today,” she said with a smile.

“Mhm,” Marc hummed while resting his head on his palm and closing his eyes. 

“You can’t stay like this,” Nathaniel said watching Marc sluggish movements as he took slow sips of his coffee.

“So what should I do?” Marc asked. 

“Go home for the day?” Marinette suggested with a frown. 

Marc sighed. “I can’t do that.”

“I’ll come with you,” Nath blurted out before he felt his face heating up. 

“You wanting to come with me doesn’t change the fact that I can’t miss any classes,” Marc replied in an unusual uncheerful way. 

Nathan blushed harder moving his gaze to Alix’ work on the wall. Why did he say that? He had always liked spending time with Marc, but know that he was aware of his feelings did he feel like spending time with him even more? If he wasn’t aware of his feelings would he had still proposed to go with him? 

Nathan was pulled out of his thoughts only when he realized Marinette wanted to leave them alone. He prayed to every god he knew the name of that she wouldn’t do that, but after saying something to Marc that Nath didn’t quite hear, she mouthed a silent “good luck” and left. 

“Uhm,” Nathan said feeling like an idiot. “Are classes more important than your health?”

Marc yawned again. “I don’t know, honestly. The fact that you need to ask that is kinda sad.”

Nathan blinked at Marc, not used to this straightforward attitude. Making a decision he put his things in his bag and grabbed Marc’s hand. 

“Let’s go,” he said. 

Marc’s eyes shot opened as he was pulled into a sitting position. He put all of his (little) energy into not spilling his coffee before he glared at Nathan. “Hey!”

Nathan looked at him and smiled sheepishly muttering a quick “Sorry!” before dragging him out of the classroom. 

“Where are you guys going?” Alix asked, looking at them in confusion. 

“Yes, where _are_ we going, Nath?” Marc asked. 

“To your place so you can sleep,” Nathaniel replied.

“My place?” Marc asked.

“Didn’t you say your parents are gone for the week?”

Marc nodded slowly. That was all the confirmation Nathaniel needed as he left, dragging Marc with him, despite his protests. 

They were almost outside the school gates when Marc sighed. “Fine, at least let me get my stuff from the locker room.”

Nathan stopped and looked at Marc wondering what he was waiting for. Marc glanced at their hands and Nathan felt his face heating up. He let go of Marc’s hand immediately and muttered an apology under his breath. Damn, this crushing thing was hard!

Marc didn’t seem upset, instead his face was just as red as Nath’s. Nathan cursed himself for making Marc uncomfortable. A few seconds passed and neither of them moved. Until Marc _finally_ turned around and walked towards the locker room. In the few minutes he was gone, Nathan had time to cool off, but it was all in vain when the boy came back and smiled at him, very adorably. Nathan felt like he would melt on the spot.

“Ready to go?” he asked. “If we’re going to skip a whole day of school at least let’s do it before the guard shows up.”

Nathan could only nod as Marc began leading the way. He had it bad. He had it _real_ bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: This chapter was what made me want to write this story. Marc's house was also supposed to be in this chapter, but it got kinda long so you'll see that in the next one which will be very soon. It will be fluffy, I promise! Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it at least half as much as I did while writing it! <3


	8. Rainbow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marc paints Nathan's nails after a heartfelt conversation and then he falls asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this one. I'm playing a little bit with Nathan's and Marc's backstories and families since we don't have much to go on from the show. Anyway, enjoy!

Nathaniel and Marc were walking on the street towards Marc’s place. Nathan’s head was full of thoughts, but the one that he just couldn’t get rid off was how nice it felt to hold Marc’s hand before, when they were on their way from the art classroom. 

Even now, as they were walking Nathan’s and Marc’s hand were brushing slightly every once in a while. Nathan realized fairly quickly that the problem would be solved if they didn’t walk so close to each other, but Nathaniel didn’t have any desire to move and Marc didn’t seem bothered by it either. 

So Nathan was content with him and Marc walking in silence, _almost_ holding hands. Nathaniel was very aware that he could just grab it, but if ever did that he would die of embarrassment. 

At some point, they got on a bus and 15 minutes later arrived at Marc’s place. Nath didn’t have much memory of the trip since he was way to distracted by his own thoughts to pay attention to the road. He’d been to Marc’s place plenty of times before and it wasn’t anything special. Just another apartment building in the gigantic sea of apartment buildings that formed Paris. 

They climbed two floors and entered the apartment. They took off their shoes and walked by the kitchen until they reached a small hallway. Marc left Nathan alone as he headed for the bathroom. Nathaniel entered Marc’s room and put down his bag near Marc’s desk. 

The place was spacious and had a big window on the wall opposite to the door that allowed a lot of sunlight to come it. However, thanks to the cloudy weather of Paris, at the moment the room was dark and gloomy. A bed was in the left corner, right by it a desk. Near the door there was a big bookshelf full of all kinds of books. A wardrobe was in the right corner and armchair right near it. The armchair was full of jackets and shirts that were thrown on it that after falling down, decorated even the soft carpet on the floor.

The room itself was messy. The bed was unmade, papers were overflowing from the trash can near the desk and the desk had miscellaneous objects that wouldn’t normally have to be there. Other than the armchair, there weren’t any pieces of clothing, but Nathan knew for a fact that if someone were to open the wardrobe they would be buried in a mountain of fabric. 

Marc was generally a messy person, which Nathaniel found really adorable. Now that he was aware of his crush, it was a bit easier to think stuff like that. Normally he would’ve questioned himself for thinking that way, but right now it didn’t feel so unusual. 

The bedroom door opened allowing Marc to come in. He changed out of his usual clothes, now wearing a simple black shirt and a pair of gray sweatpants. His hair was let down and Nathan was surprised to see that it wasn’t much longer than his own. Marc also took off his gloves and in the time Nathan studied his change of appearance he already made a stride for the bed. He picked up a book off it, that Nathaniel hadn’t previously noticed and opened it somewhere in the middle. 

Nathaniel sat down on the bed as well and looked out the window. He was surprised to see that the sky was really dark now. It was probably going to rain soon. As if on cue, small droplets of water fell from the sky. Nathan watched the rain for a few seconds before he sighed and turned towards Marc. 

“So, are you going to tell me what happened?” 

“What happened when?” Marc asked turning a page. 

“What happened that made you stay up all night,” Nathan explained. 

Marc didn’t say anything for a few seconds before he closed his book. He put it down gently besides him and looked Nathan in the eye. 

“My parents had another fight…”

Nathan furrowed his brows. “But didn’t you say that–”

“They planned this trip so they could ‘spend time with each other and fall in love all over again’? Yes,” Marc said using air quotes as he repeated his parents’ exact words. “However, they had another fight last night. I stayed up all night and thought about... stuff.”

Realizing Marc was being silent in order to gather his thoughts, Nathaniel didn’t say anything. After a short while Marc talked again. “They were shouting and, you know… I don’t usually listen to what they are shouting about. I didn’t do it this time either. Just took my headphones and blasted the music until their voices were covered up. 

“But I had time to think. If they are unhappy with each other, why don’t they break up. I came to the conclusion that it might be because of me, right? They love me, they don’t want me to feel like I have to split my time for them if they were to get a divorce.”

Marc’s voice cracked slightly as he spoke the last word. He took a deep breath and talked again. “And I love them too. I want them to be happy, but... “ Marc trailed off, unsure if he should say what he really thought off. Noticing this, Nathan took Marc’s hand in his and slowly brushing his thumb against Marc’s smooth skin, trying to comfort him as best as possible. “Is it bad that I don’t want them to break up? I mean, if that what would make them happier, I wouldn’t mind. No... I would mind. I would mind and that makes me feel terrible, because as much as I want them to be happy, I want to be happy too. I’m too greedy, aren’t I?”

Nathan smiled sympathetically. He knew how much Marc loved his parents. After meeting them, a while back, Nathan learned that they were amazing people. They also loved his son very much, but since few years ago they weren’t able to see eye to eye anymore. Nathaniel learned from Marc that they tried to get along for their son’s sake, but it was in vain and from what Nathan could see it was getting worse and worse. 

“Marc, of course it’s not bad to want them to be together. Don’t think that you are a bad person for wanting to be happy. Your parents, they’re adults, they’ll figure out what’s best to do. It might seem bad now, but one day, soon, it will get better. Even if they break up it’s not like you won’t see them again. Both of them love you so much, there is no way that their decision won’t include your happiness.”

Marc nodded and Nathan felt relieved. He wasn’t usually best with words, but it appears that this time it was enough to reassure Marc. The writer smile while moving his hand and intertwining their fingers. Nathan felt his hace heating up immediately, but he tried his best to calm himself down. Marc needed him, he couldn’t be distracted. He glanced at Marc who no longer looked worried, instead he seemed happy. Nathan squeezed his hand and immediately noticed Marc’s face flushing. Could it be possible that Marc…?

Nathaniel’s gaze slipped to Marc’s pink lips and he felt himself unconsciously lean in closer. His heart was beating so fast he could hear it pounding in his ears. 

“Hey, Nath,” Marc said making Nathan jump and pull away quickly. Why did he do that? He decided that he would respect the fact Marc liked someone else. Just because Marc held his hand it didn’t mean that he liked Nathan. He needed comfort and Nathan was just reading too much into it.

“Hmm?” Nathan replied not trusting his voice to say any words. 

“Have you ever painted your nails?” Marc asked and Nathan noticed him studying his hand. Nathan shook his head. 

Marc’s eyes widened in excitement. “Can I do it for you?” 

Marc quickly looked away. “Uhm, I mean. If you want to try, I could paint your nails for you.”

Nathaniel never really thought about it before, but seeing Marc so enthusiastic he couldn’t say no. “Sure,” Nathan replied. 

Marc jumped off the bed letting go of Nath’s hand in the process. He ran to his desk and looked through it before he took out a bottle of black nail polish. “Is black alright?” he asked rummaging through the drawers. “I got some others. They must be here somewhere.”

“No! Black is ok,” Nathan said because he didn’t really care about the colour and just wanted Marc to come back and sit near him. 

Marc nodded and stepped towards the bed. He sat down cross legged before opened the bottle and took Nathan’s left hand in his. As he moved to make the first brush, Marc looked up at his bangs and frowned. 

“Hold this,” Marc said putting the brush in Nathan’s hand before he ran towards the desk. He took a silver headband and put it on his head. He turned and grinned at Nathan. “The long hair is kinda annoying sometimes.”

He picked up the brush again and began working, but Nathan couldn’t really pay attention because he was too busy staring at Marc. _He is so cute_ , Nathan thought all over again. 

He didn’t know for how long he was spacing out, but by the time he could pay attention to anything that wasn’t Marc, the other boy moved to his other hand. 

“Have you tried painting?” Nathan asked. 

Marc laughed. “I’m not any good at it,” he replied. “It’s one thing to do this and another to do it on paper with paints and stuff.”

“On paper with paints and stuff?” Nathan repeated with a chuckle. 

“Shut up,” Marc said playfully. 

Watching him work, time flew for Nathan, and Marc was soon done.

“So what do you think?” Marc asked as he closed the bottle. 

Nathaniel raised his hands and studied his nails. “Not really my thing,” he replied honestly. 

“Oh, alright then,” Marc said as he stood up to put the bottle back. “We’ll wait for it to dry and then I’ll take it off.”

Nathan didn’t want that. Even though painting his nails wasn’t something he wanted to do, he didn’t want to destroy Marc’s work. He shook his head. “No. I’ll keep it on.”

Marc looked at him in surprise. He smiled sincerely, but then covered his mouth as he yawned loudly. “Sorry,” he said. “I guess I should get some sleep.”

Marc returned to the bed and lied down near Nathan. He took off his headband and put his head on the pillow. Nathan jumped off the bed and took the headband from him. He placed it on the desk. He waited for Marc to put his head on the pillow and then took the covers and put them on him. 

“Thanks…” Marc said already dozing off. 

Nathan laughed before he sat down on the bed again. Soft snores began feeling the room and Nathan couldn’t help turning to look at Marc. Now that he finally had time to think, he wondered how could he end up like this. A blushing mess whenever his best friend and partner as much as _looked_ at him. 

He brought up a hand and gently brushed Marc’s dark bangs from his face. Nathan sighed. He was going to mess this up somehow. He could feel it. 

Soon after he dozed off, too. When he woke up, he stood up and immediately noticed the light in the room. He turned around and looked at the window. The rain had stopped and the clouds had dissipated. After he stood up to pull the curtains as to let Marc sleep more, he noticed something in the sky. 

“A rainbow,” he whispered to no one in particular. “How ironic.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter. I know I keep saying that the next chapter "will be soon" and it hasn't been quite so soon. The reason for that is that if I make promises, maybe I will work harder and faster. It doesn't seem to work tho, but I'm still gonna do it so. Expect the next chapter soon. (Although I am not so sure of the plot so it might take a while and at this point I'm rambling ok bye)
> 
> PS: Thanks for the comments and kudos! I love you so much! :)
> 
> Edit: ADORABLE ART FOR THIS CHAPTER MADE BY HOON18 ON TUMBLR [HERE](https://hoon18.tumblr.com/post/179112893451/new-marcthaniel-nathmarc-rainbow-tomato). check it out, it's absolutely adorable.


	9. Boyfriend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marc visits Nathan after his dental surgery and unexpected confessions happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhm... I am not sure about this one, but I decided to just go with my original idea and stop worrying. Even so, I hope you enjoy it!

When Marc woke up, Nathan was sitting at his desk, drawing. He felt a lot better now that he got some decent sleep, so only then did he realize all the stuff he had done that day, when he could barely keep his eyes open. He told Nathan so many things, that he never told anyone. Things that he thought of every night. Nathan listened to him and comforted him. Marc was so lucky to have someone like him in his life.

Snapping away from his thoughts, he got Nath’s attention. The artist smiled brightly at him and Marc blushed. Nathan's smile was going to be the death of him, he was sure. He wanted to say something, but Nathan decided right then to pick up his phone. His face became panicked very quickly and Marc looked at him in confusion. 

“Mom called me,” Nathan said. “Three times. I had my phone on silent since you fell asleep and I _didn't answer_.”

Marc began panicking a bit as well because as nice as Adrianna was you did _not_ want to make her angry. He witnessed such a moment once when they were stuck in traffic and all that can be said about it is that he would rather not see something like that _ever_ again. What was worse this time is that Marc was directly involved. 

“Go,” Marc said. “Before she gets too mad.”

“Are you sure?” Nathan asked looking at him with concern making Marc’s heart melt. 

“Of course,” Marc replied. “You took enough care of me. Just go.”

Nathan nodded, picked up his bag and ran past the door. Marc would have showed him to the door like a good host, but he knew Nathan wouldn’t mind and he was still really tired. He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep once again. 

Days passed pretty uneventfully after that. They finally managed to publish the second issue of “Ladybug” after a lot of work. More and more people at school would stop to congratulate Marc on the comic book and as much as he hated the attention, he was glad that his work was appreciated. 

Marc entered the art room hoping that in there people will stop bombarding him with congratulations and he sat down waiting for Nathaniel. Marc passed the time by scrolling through his phone since he didn’t have anything else to work on at the moment. Taking his eyes off the screen for a few moments, he noticed Alix walking into the room. 

“Hi, Alix,” Marc said frowning when he noticed she was alone. “Where is Nath?”

“Didn’t he tell you?” she asked approaching him. “He had some teeth removal surgery or something like that today.”

Marc furrowed his brows. “He didn’t tell me… Why didn’t he tell me?”

Alix shrugged. “How should I know?”

She seemed to think about something for a second before her face brightened up. “Hey, I have to go to his place and bring his homework. I will give it to you and when you're there, you can also ask him why he kept such a secret.”

Marc nodded thinking that he would’ve gone to see him anyway. “Ok, but don’t you wanna see him after his surgery?” 

Alix laughed. “As much as I’d love to see him high off morphine, I’ll leave it to you.” There was a mischievous glint in her eyes.

She took out the homework Marc was supposed to deliver and handed the file to him. Marc took it with narrowed eyes. 

“You and Marinette aren’t trying to set us up again, are you?” 

Alix raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “And if we are? What then? 

"Uhm, could you stop?" Marc asked hopefully.

"Why would we?" 

"Because Nathan doesn't like me!" Marc exclaimed. "So there is no point."

Alix gave him a deadpan look. "Whatever you say."

With that she said goodbye, picked up her bag and left. It didn't matter what Alix or Marinette believed. Nathan won't ever like him. He was okay with that.

He left the school and a while later he found himself at Nathan’s doorstep. He knocked. Adrianna opened the door and smiled when she noticed it was Marc. 

“Marc, come in,” she said moving aside to make him room. 

“How is Nath?” Marc asked while taking off his shoes. “I brought his homework.”

“He is well,” Adrianna said. “Not quite himself yet.”

Marc looked at her in confusion. “What do you mean?” 

“The pain medicine is still in effect,” she replied while guiding Marc towards Nathan’s room. “I tried to make him sleep, but he didn’t want to, no matter what I told him. He then became fascinated with your comic book so I left him to it.”

Marc nodded as he opened the door. Adrianna turned and left, but Marc wasn’t really paying attention to her anymore. He began wondering again why he didn’t know about Nathaniel’s surgery. 

“Nath?” Marc called barely in a whisper in case the artist had changed his mind and went to sleep in the end. 

“Yeah?” Nathan said and only then did Marc fully walk into the room. 

He stepped past the door and noticed Nathan reading the second issue of “Ladybug” not caring that someone has just entered his room. Marc got closer to his bed and waited for Nathan to finish, but after a few seconds it was clear that he wasn’t going to say anything. 

“I brought your homework,” Marc said taking out the file that Alix had given him. 

“My homework?” Nathan asked putting down the comic. Marc quickly noticed his muffled words as if he had cotton in his mouth. Which he most likely did, since he just had dental surgery. 

“Yes, your homework,” Marc replied putting the files in Nathan’s hands. 

“I have homework?” Nathan asked taking the file and opening it. 

“Apparently yes,” Marc said sitting down on the bed. 

“I’m going to school?” Nathan asked quickly getting bored of the file and carelessly throwing it on the carpet. 

“Yes, Nath. You are going to school.”

“Cool,” the artist said with a smile.

Marc laughed lightly. “Most of the time you hate it.”

“I do?” Nathan asked in confusion and Marc nodded. “By the way, who are you?”

Marc blinked at him. “I’m your friend. Marc Anciel.”

Nathan looked at him in concentration. “I know that name,” he said in a low voice before his eyes scanned the room. He finally looked at their comic and picked it up. He pointed at the printed “Marc Anciel” on the cover with a questioning look. 

“Yes. I wrote that comic book,” Marc said. “With you.” Marc pointed at Nathan’s name printed near his.

“And you’re my friend?” Nathan asked and Marc nodded again. 

Suddenly, Nathan turned his gaze to his lap with a frown. He sniffled and mumbled. “I don’t want you to be my friend.”

Marc’s eyes widened in surprise wanting to believe, _hoping_ that he had heard wrong. “What?” he asked not sure he wanted to hear the answer. 

Nathan looked at Marc again and the writer immediately noticed that he was almost _crying_. Nath's eyes glistening with tears. “I don’t want you to be my friend!” Nathan shouted crossing his arms and turning to look at his Jagged Stone poster with an exaggerated pout while sniffling and whimpering loudly. 

Marc was staring at him, not knowing how to react. Was Nathan seriously saying this? Did he mean it? Was everything they’ve been through a lie? Marc opened his heart to Nathan and he wasn’t even considered a friend? Did Nathaniel keep him around only for the comic book? He honestly felt like crying himself.

“I want to be more than friends,” Nathan suddenly whispered bringing Marc back to reality. He felt so relieved to hear that, but regardless his heart skipped a beat. _Calm down,_ he told himself. He couldn’t get carried away. 

“Best… friends?” Marc asked and Nathan turned to look at him like he was stupid. 

“No!” Nathaniel exclaimed exasperated as if he was personally offended by Marc’s question. “I want you to be my _boyfriend_! I mean, if we really are friends then I must be an idiot because how could I stand having a ‘friend’ like you. When you are so pretty and cute and talented. I think I would die!” 

Marc gaped at Nathan. His face was flushing red and his heart was beating so fast he believed that at any moment, it would burst out of his chest and leave the room, because that was certainly what he wanted to do then. 

Apparently Nathan took Marc’s silence as a bad thing because tears started sliding down his cheeks again and he looked away from him. 

“You hate me now,” he said beginning to cry louder and louder. 

Marc who didn’t want Adrianna to think that he was torturing his son somehow, started panicking because how do you deal with a situation like this? Finally, after making a decision, he put a hand on Nathan's shoulder and spoke. 

“Of course I don’t hate you,” Marc said wishing he could say more, but he was aware that what was happening were the drugs talking. He didn’t even know Nathan wanted him to hear all this. So he decided to somehow leave Nathan alone until he gets better and then confront him about everything he said a few days later when he was sober. 

“You’re my best friend, ok? I could never hate you,” Marc said in a gentle voice _finally_ calming Nathan down. 

“Now why don’t you try to get some sleep,” Marc proposed taking the comic book and placing it on the nightstand. He took the covers and put them over Nathan’s legs. 

“No! I’m not sleeping,” Nathan protested. “If I sleep you will leave.”

Marc felt his heart warming up along with his cheeks. He took Nathan’s hand in his, noticing that his nails were still painted from the time he was at his place a few days ago. “I will hold your hand when you sleep. If I move you will know.”

Nathan looked at him skeptically before he nodded his head slowly and let it fall on the pillow. It didn’t take more than a few minutes for him to fall asleep and loosen his hold on Marc’s hand. The writer sighed in relief and quietly slipped out of the room. 

Once outside he took a deep breath, to calm himself and his racing heart. At that moment, Adrianna decided to walk out of the kitchen and she noticed him. 

“Oh, Marc. Done with the visit?” she asked and Marc nodded. “Are you alright? You look red. Do you have a fever?” 

She stepped closer to him and put a hand on his forehead. “It’s normal. That's odd. Are you ok?”

“Yes,” Marc replied finally finding his voice. “I’m fine. Thank you for letting me see him. He's sleeping now.”

“Oh, really? You got him to sleep?” Adrianna said with a relieved smile. “Thank you. He needed the rest.”

“Uhm, if he doesn’t remember it by any chance, could you tell him I passed by?”

“Of course, dear,” Adrianna replied and Marc turned towards the door. He put his shoes on and smiled at Adrianna. “Take care on your way home.”

Marc nodded. “I will. Goodnight.”

With that he was out the door, with a thousand thoughts on his mind and hundreds of feelings in his chest that he couldnt put a name to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! The fluff will end with this chapter for a while. Starting with the next one prepare yourself for some angst. MWAHAHAHAHA! (thx for the kudos and 1000+ HITS HOW DID THAT HAPPEN? also thx for commenting ily so much guys!)


	10. Bitterness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marc wants to confront Nathan about all the stuff he had said and things turned out worst than he could have ever expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that the updates aren't that often anymore. I'll do my best to work hard and fast on each chapter, but with the school that just started and other things that I'm writing it's a bit hard. Thank you all for reading and leaving kudos and comments. You guys are incredible and thank you so much! That being said, enjoy!!!

Next day at school was very counterproductive for Marc. Not only did he barely sleep the night before with the thoughts and even _dreams_ of him and Nathan as a couple, the weird thoughts didn’t leave his mind not even during classes. He barely dodged an E in Mrs. Mendeleiev’s class and even Miss Bustier had asked him if he was alright in front of all his classmates.

Now that classes were over, he was happy that he could _finally_ talk to Nathan and sort everything out. Entering the locker room, he wasn’t prepared to find Nathan there sitting down on the bench, waiting for Alix while working on a drawing in his sketchbook. Marc stopped in his tracks, not being prepared to deal with Nathan so soon, even though he’d rehearsed what he wanted to say many times in his head. 

He was pushed from behind as the door opened and someone even complained to him to get out of the way, but he barely noticed. Swallowing the lump formed in his throat he hesitantly walked towards Nathan. The artist looked up at him and smiled so brightly that Marc somehow forgot how to breath. 

Nathaniel carelessly put down his sketchbook and got up raising his arms trying to hug him. Without realizing it Marc put a hand on Nathan’s chest and pushed him away before they could hug. Nathan looked at him in what could only be described as a mix of hurt and confusion, but it couldn’t be helped. Marc didn’t want to get closer to Nathan than necessary, until everything was back to normal. 

“Is everything ok?” Nath asked.

Marc scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment , looking away from Nathan’s questioning gaze. “Uhm, yeah. I just, I just wanted to talk to you about… stuff?”

Trying to find places to look at that didn’t include Nathan, his eyes landed on his sketchbook, which lay open on the bench. Marc let out a soft gasp before he bend down to grab it. 

“This is… me?” 

The drawing was of him sitting down at his desk and writing. The outline was carefully made, the colours were so nicely combined and Marc could tell that Nathan had put a lot of care into it. He ran his finger over the drawing, in order to make sure it was real. He couldn’t believe that it was _him_ there. He looked at Nathan and noticed how his face was flushed. Under his gaze, the artist looked away. 

“Yeah,” he said. “I don’t really like how it turned out, though. It could have been better and--”

“Are you kidding?” Marc asked in disbelief. “This is so pretty. I can’t believe you could make me look so pretty.”

“I had nothing to do with that,” Nathan muttered and Marc blushed, suddenly finding hard to find his words. 

“If you don’t like it, can I have it?” Marc asked in the end. 

“Sure,” Nathan said taking the sketchbook from Marc’s hands and carefully ripping the drawing. He handed it to Marc.

“Thanks,” Marc said feeling some of the tension dissolve. 

“Are you ready to go?” Alix said appearing out of nowhere looking at Nathan expectedly. 

Nathan looked at Marc. “You said you wanted to talk to me?” Marc nodded and Nathan turned to Alix again. “Go ahead. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Alix nodded and after saluting them both she left. 

“So what’s up?”

Marc folded the piece of paper neatly before he answered. “I just wanted to ask, why didn’t you tell me about your surgery?”

That was one of the things he wanted to ask, but he decided to leave the worst for last. 

Nathan nervously chuckled and looked away. “I just… You tend to worry, you know? I didn’t want you to worry about something so trivial. I’m sorry if it made you upset.”

Marc could never be upset, not after hearing Nathan’s reasoning. It warmed his heart to know that Nathan cared so much and that he didn’t want to worry him. “I wasn’t upset, just curious. And another thing…”

It was his turn to look away and ignore Nathan’s questioning look. His heart began beating faster and faster and he really wondered if knowing the answer was worth risking their friendship over. Marc sighed defeated, knowing that he wouldn’t allow himself to _not_ do this. 

“There was something you said while you were still under the effect of the pain medicine.”

“What did I say?” Nathan asked narrowing his brows. 

“You told me you didn’t want me to be your friend, but your boyfriend,” Marc finished looking at Nathan’s face who was both bewildered and terrified. 

“I said that?!” he exclaimed and Marc nodded hesitantly. “Oh my god, Marc, I’m _so_ sorry. I know you like someone else. That’s fine and I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. Look ,we can just act like it never happened.”

Marc stopped breathing for a second, his heart beating even faster than before, but this time for a different reason. He felt some kind of irrational anger build up inside him and he snapped. “You want me to _pretend_? Again?

“You tell me I’m pretty, you look at me like I am the most gorgeous thing you’ve ever seen, then even draw me so beautifully? You tell me you want me to be your boyfriend and then tell me to pretend that _all_ that didn’t happen?” Marc shouted louder than he wanted to, getting the attention of all the people in the locker room. That wasn’t his intention, but even so he kept going. 

“I _like_ you, Nath,” he said and Nathan’s eyes widened in surprise. “I’ve liked you for so long. That guy I said that I liked, that was you. And all that stuff that you did, it made me so happy. Now I know you like me back, but you want me to pretend I didn’t hear that. It hurts, Nathan and I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

He stopped talking after he felt he needed to calm down. He stopped yelling at some point and everything became just a frustrated whisper. He really regretted snapping like that, but there was nothing that could be done anymore. 

“You really like me?” Nathan asked, slowly as if he was afraid that the answer would change. 

“You know what?” Marc said suddenly feeling very bitter and wishing nothing more than to be alone after messing up so badly. “Pretend I never said that.”

He tried to step past Nathan, but Nathan caught his wrist. Marc turned to look at him. “I’m so sorry,” he said and Marc softened his gaze. 

“Me too,” he replied honestly. “But I need some time alone now.” 

Nathan let go of his hand and Marc slipped past all the people that were still staring at him. He got his things and left the school in a hurry. He strolled into the park and sat down on the bench. He threw his bag somewhere on the ground and laid down on his back looking at the sky. 

Marc took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He took out the drawing that was still in his pocket and after unfolding it, he began studying it carefully even though his mind was elsewhere. He couldn’t believe it got to this. Ever since he became friends with Nathan whenever he needed to “be alone” it would somehow include him. Other people would tire him out, but never Nathan. Whenever he had a problem or had something on his mind, he went to Nathan, but now, now that his problems included Nathan, what was he supposed to do?

He folded the piece of paper and sighed. Will things be able to work themselves out?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hoped you liked this chapter. This story is so messy and all over the place and I have no idea why you people like it, but I'll take what I can get. Next chapter soon! <3


	11. Communication

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathaniel asks his mother for advice about how to save his relationship with Marc.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Marc left and for a few moments Nathaniel was staring at the ground. He messed up. Badly. He knew this was going to happen because it always just _had_ to happen. Everything with Marc went too well so, of course Nathan had to do something so stupid. 

Nathaniel sighed heavily as he picked up his sketchbook. He shoved it in his bag and stormed towards the door. He wanted to be anywhere, but in this place with all the people staring at him, like what just happened was their business. Just as he was about to open the door, he bumped into another person who wanted to leave. 

“Ugh, watch it, weirdo! This jacket is worth more than what you’re poor artist mother could make in her entire life.” The voice was clearly Chloe’s. And Chloe was the last person he wanted to deal with right now. 

Nathaniel turned to glare at her and feeling his temper rise he snapped. “I don’t give a damn about your jacket, Chloe, and if you say another word about my mother, I swear on anything you want, you will regret it!” 

He accentuated every word, taking pleasure in the way Chloe cowered and stepped back from him. She suddenly straightened up and scoffed. 

“Stop getting so worked up. You had a fight with your boyfriend, who cares?” she said as she stepped past him. “Let’s go, Sabrina.” Sabrina followed right after. 

Nathan took a deep breath to calm himself, before another voice got his attention. 

“Are you okay?” Adrien asked appearing out of nowhere. 

Nathan found this strange, seeing as he and Adrien weren’t exactly friends. He raised an eyebrow in confusion and replied “Kinda?” 

Adrien smiled sympathetically. “I’m sure everything will turn out just fine. I’ve barely seen anyone get along as well as you and Marc do.”

Nathan nodded. “Yeah, thanks.”

It was kind of strange that he felt better, after that. He said goodbye to Adrien and left. He walked home slowly, thinking of ways he could save everything. In the end, he decided to talk to his mother. She always knew what was the best course of action. However, in order to do that he would have to admit that he has a crush on Marc to her. And since Marc is a boy, he is a bit nervous, because what if his mom won’t agree with it? He knew all those thoughts were not true and that his mother loved him just as much as he loved her, but he still couldn’t help this anxiety. 

Nathan unlocked the door and walked inside. After taking off his shoes, he entered the leaving room only to find his mother reading over a piece of paper. 

“We need to talk.”

“I messed up.”

They said at the same time and Nathan looked at his mother and noticed the stern expression on her face. However, after hearing his words and noticing his distress, her features softened. 

“What happened?” Adrianna asked as she patted the spot besides her on the couch. 

“What did you want to talk about?” Nathan asked instead of answering, but he still sat down near her. 

“It can wait,” his mother, replied placing the piece of paper on the coffee table, upside down. Before she put it there Nathan saw the name of his school written on it and he wondered what it could possibly be about. 

“Now tell me,” Adrianna said in a soft voice. 

Nathan nodded. “Well about that. I have to tell you something else, first,” Nathan began and Adrianna nodded her head encouraging him to continue. Nathan took a deep breath trying to calm the butterflies in his stomach. “A while back, I realized I have a crush on Marc.”

There, he said it. He didn’t dare look at his mother, though. “I know this might be… weird? But you know--”

He was going to start rambling, but he was stopped by Adrianna. “No,” she said. “It’s not weird. _Of course,_ it’s not. I’m just glad you realized so soon.”

Nathan’s gaze snapped back to her. “What? You knew?”

Adrianna laughed. “Of course I did. It was the same with that Marinette girl. It wasn’t hard for me to notice.”

“Everyone knew?” Nathan asked just now realizing how oblivious he had been. He buried his face in his hands and groaned. 

Suddenly, he felt gentle arms embrace him and he sighed, resting his head on his mother’s shoulder. She began running her fingers through his hair in a soothing way, making him calm his nerves. 

“It doesn’t matter, Nathan. Not to me,” she said. “I love you. Nothing you could ever tell me would change that. _Nothing_ , alright? Now tell me what’s troubling you.”

Nathan nodded. “Well, yesterday when the pain medicine was still in effect I might have confessed to Marc by accident. Today, when he brought it up, I asked him to act like it never happened because I thought that he liked another guy. He just got mad after, telling me that he had liked me for so long and he doesn’t want to pretend it didn’t happen. He left afterwards and I have no idea what to do now.”

“I think you should talk to him,” Adrianna said immediately after Nathan was done. “Explain to him why you did what you did. Don’t let this get between you and ruin your friendship.”

“That’s it?” Nathan asked. 

“That’s it,” Adrianna confirmed. “If you want your relationships to work out, you have to communicate. This doesn’t apply just to Marc. Any relationship that you have is based on communication.”

Nathaniel nodded, realizing that that would be the only way to save everything. He sat up straighter, pulling away from the embrace as he glanced at the paper on the coffee table. 

“So what is that about?” Nathan asked wishing to be done with his mother so he could go talk to Marc. 

“About that,” Adrianna said as she bend down to pick up the piece of paper. “It says here that on Monday you weren’t at school. The principal asks that you should bring a medical note if you were home sick, but I remember you distinctly leaving that particular morning. Something you want to tell me?” 

Nathan completely forgot about that. When he went with Marc, he didn’t think about the fact that the school might contact his mother concerning his absence. He glanced down at the black nail polish and decided that nothing would come out of lying.

“I went with Marc to his place because he wasn’t feeling well,” Nathan said and Adrianna raised an eyebrow. “His parents had another fight and I wanted to comfort him. I know I should have told you, I’m sorry.”

Nathan tried to decipher the expression on his mother’s face, but he couldn’t. In the end, she sighed. “I’m beginning to think Marc is a bad influence on you.” 

She was clearly joking, but Nathan realized it too late. “Mom!” he exclaimed as she began laughing at his bewildered expression. “He is a literal cinnamon roll, ok?”

After a few seconds, Adrianna finally stopped laughing and she nodded. “Just go talk to him. We’ll talk about this, when you get back,” she said as she placed the paper on the coffee table.

Suddenly feeling weirdly confident Nathan hugged his mother tightly, before sitting up and running towards the door. He would fix this, no matter what it took.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Just know that I'm not sure when the next chapter will come out, but I'll do my best to do it as soon as possible! <3


	12. Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They _finally_ kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes.

The akuma appeared out of nowhere, as it usually does. Marinette slipped away when no one was paying attention and transformed quickly. Chat Noir appeared soon after. Their first priority was to make sure everyone was safe since the akuma had a flipping chainsaw stuck to his hand. After helping all the students and teachers to get into empty rooms, in order to keep them safe, Ladybug tried to find a way to destroy the chainsaw.

Ladybug knew the akuma was in there, but she had to find a way to get Chat Noir’s Cataclysm to it without making kitty stew. Just as she was contemplating her next move, Charpentier ran out of the school. Before his akumatization, he was the school handy man who was upset by Principal Damocles. He probably just found out that the principal was gone already.

“Let’s go, milady,” Chat Noir said already taking out his staff.

Ladybug nodded before her eyes landed on a familiar red haired boy walking with heavy steps towards the school. Without saying a word she jumped down to greet him followed by a confused Chat Noir.

“Hello, Nathaniel,” she said making him jump.

“Ladybug!” he exclaimed. “The akuma went that way,” he said as he pointed to the general direction in which Charpentier has disappeared to.

“Yes, we know, thank you,” she said turning towards Chat Noir. “Chaton, you put Marc Anciel in that supply closet, right?”

“Yes, milady, but I don’t see how it has anything to do with anything,” he said and Ladybug smirked.

She looked at Nathaniel before she picked him up and threw him over her shoulder.

“Hey, what are you doing?” he asked struggling in her arms.

“I’m sorry, but we have to make sure that all civilians are safe before we go fight the akuma,” she said and Chat Noir raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“The akuma just left, bugaboo,” he said.

"He could come back," Ladybug simply stated walking past the school gates.

They reached the supply closet and Chat unlocked it for her. She barely saw Marc’s bewildered face before he placed Nathaniel in there and locked it again.

“What did you do that for?” Chat Noir asked.

“Oh, kitty, do you trust me?” she asked playfully.

“You know I do, milady,” he replied earnestly

“Then trust that what I’m doing is for their own good,” Ladybug said with a mischievous smile.

"Oh," Chat said in realization before he sighed dreamily. “Ah, I want to be struck by Ladybug’s love arrow, too!”

Ladybug rolled her eyes fondly before she took out her yoyo and left after the akuma, Chat Noir right behind her.

* * *

 

Marc stared at Nathaniel, Nathaniel stared right back. _What just happened_ , Marc wondered. He was in the park, contemplating his life choices when the akuma had appeared. Ladybug and Chat Noir had herded everyone into empty rooms and Marc ended up in the closet. A few minutes later, the door opens and Nathaniel is in there, too.

“Uhm, hi,” Marc muttered.

“Hello,” Nathan replied without meeting Marc’s gaze.

Marc sighed. Why did it have to be awkward?

“Look,” Nathan suddenly said. “I’m sorry.”

Marc smiled. “I am, too.”

“And I like you,” Nathaniel blurted and for a second he seemed shocked by his own words. Looking away, he continued. “A lot.”

“I like you, too,” Marc replied realizing that it felt so good to say that out loud to Nathan.

Nathaniel’s cheeks became red and Marc knew he was the same.

Nathan cleared his throat. “Like, I’ve never liked anyone how I like you. So, you know, I think you’re cute. And clever and funny and, you know, _absolutely adorable_ most of the time, and well--”

Marc kind of zoned out after that. His mind kept replaying the first few sentences of Nathaniel’s monologue and he couldn’t really process the rest. He stared at Nathan’s turquoise eyes, which were shining even in the dim light of the closet. Marc frowned when he noticed that strands of red hair were covering most of Nath’s left eye.

He brought up a hand and gently brushed it away making Nathan stop talking suddenly.

“Oh, uhm, sorry,” Marc whispered without moving his hand.

“No problem,” Nathan replied standing stiff as a board under Marc’s touch.

“I, uh, I only heard half of what you said,” Marc confessed.

“That’s good. Thanks for that. It barely made sense anyway,” Nathan said laughing lightly.

“So,” Marc said.

“So?” Nathaniel asked.

“What now?”

“I’m not sure.”

They sat in silence for the next few seconds, before Nathan suddenly made a step forward only to brush his lips against Marc’s so slightly that he barely felt it. Marc widened his eyes and Nathan looked away.

“Do you… do you want me to pretend that never happened?” Marc asked feeling like teasing Nathan.

To his surprise, Nathan took his hand from his hair and squeezed it with his own. He shook his head speaking in a tone so serious, it took Marc by surprise. “I’m done pretending.”

Marc smiled and leaned in. Nathan did as well. They were so close, almost kissing. Then their noses bumped.

Marc snorted, pulled away and began laughing. He was laughing so loud his chest hurt and he ended up clutching his sides. He didn’t look at Nathan, but he could feel his gaze on him.

“We’re so terrible at this,” Marc said between laughs. Nathaniel, who until then was looking at him bewildered, smiled softly.

“We’ll learn together,” Nathan said and Marc stopped laughing immediately.

“That’s so corny,” Marc said and Nathan pushed his shoulder lightly.

“Shut up.”

Nathan’s face was bright red, and Marc found that so endearing he couldn’t stop smiling. He stepped closer to Nathan and put his hands on Nathan’s hips leaning in closer. Nathan did the same until their lips were barely brushing. Marc could hear his heart pounding in his ears and he wondered if Nathan could hear it too, but he realized it didn’t really matter at this point.

Marc didn’t know who made the final step, but they ended up kissing. They moved their lips against each other. It was messy and their noses bumped a lot, but they were _kissing_.

Nathan’s lips were rough and the kiss was a lot less softer than Marc had imagined, but it was better than anything he could have ever hoped for. At some point, after what was actually happening caught up to them, they pulled apart. Nathan was smiling just as wide as Marc was.

“I liked that,” Marc said shyly just as Nathan moved his hands away from his dark hair. He wasn’t aware of when that had happened.

“Me too,” Nathan replied. “Maybe we should do it again sometimes.”

Marc nodded. “I’d like that.”

Nathan brought Marc into a hug and held him tightly. Marc was surprised at first, but hugged him back after that. It felt… nice.

“Say,” Nathaniel suddenly began his voice muffled by their embrace. “Do you want to be my boyfriend?”

Marc smiled. “Do you even ask? Of course I do.” He could feel Nathan smiling as well and Marc knew he would always keep this moment close to his heart.

A while later, Marc found himself sitting down with Nathaniel, watching on his phone as the battle with Charpentier had ended. They both cheered as Ladybug and Chat Noir shared their usual fistbump before they both hurried out of sight to change back to their civilians form.

“Do you think anyone will come for us?” Marc asked suddenly realizing that no one other than Paris' superheroes knew where they were.

“I think I’ll text Alix,” Nathaniel said noticing that their predicament might be worse than anticipated.

“Yeah, you should probably do that,” Marc replied as Nathan took out his phone and began typing.

It was weird, Marc thought. A few minutes ago they were kissing and now they were sitting down watching Ladybug and Chat Noir’s battle as they’ve done so many times before. He couldn’t believe how much things have changed, but in a way, they were also the same. Marc couldn’t be happier about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this! One more chapter after this, so look forward to that! :D


	13. Sweet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alix thinks Marc and Nathaniel are way too sweet together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it is! I hope you enjoy it!

“Bye bye, little butterfly,” Ladybug said as the pure white bug left her yoyo. He turned towards her partner and raised her fist. 

“Pound it!” Ladybug and Chat Noir said in unison. Right after, Ladybug’s earrings beeped signaling that they would soon detransform. 

“See you later, kitty,” Ladybug said with a smile as she left the area. She flew over rooftops and cars until she reached the school. She sneaked inside and detransformed into one of the bathrooms. 

Tikki flew up to her holding a bitten cookie, looking around confused. “Why are we still at school?”

“I have to let Marc and Nathaniel out of the supply closet,” Marinette replied poking her head out of the bathroom stool to make sure no one was around. 

“You said you wouldn’t interfere directly, anymore,” Tikki complained flying back into Marinette’s purse. 

“I had to, Tikki,” Marinette said in a hushed whisper. “Who knows what would have happened if I didn’t do it.” 

Tikki didn’t reply after that since too many people had gathered around them. Marinette walked up to the supply closet, twisted the key in the lock and opened it, immediately noticing the two boys sitting on the floor. 

“Thanks, Marinette, ” Marc said as he got up extending a hand towards Nathan to help him as well. _So they weren’t fighting anymore_ , Marinette thought.

“Marinette!” an approaching person exclaimed. “You got them out?”

Marinette turned towards the familiar voice and noticed that it was Adrien. “Hi!” she said in greeting. “What are you doing here?” 

Adrien stopped in front of her and glanced at the room besides her where the other boys were sitting awkwardly. “I came to unlock the door for them. I saw Ladybug and Chat Noir lock them up in here and thought I should let them out.”

Marinette mentally facepalmed. _Why else would he be there._ She smiled and nodded, but on the inside she was dying. 

“I see you beat me to it,” Adrien continued.

“Yeah, I just,” Marinette said trying not to stutter. “I was just about to ask them if they made out-- uhh, I mean, made up! ‘Cus you see, they had a fight before and-”

Marinette stopped herself from saying anything else. She was rambling and Adrien wouldn’t care about stuff like that anyway. 

“We kind of did both actually,” Nathaniel muttered.

Marinette turned to look at Nathaniel wondering if she’d heard wrong. To her delight, Nath’s eyes were wide as if he just realized he said that out loud and his face was bright red in embarrassment. Marc’s expression was similar. 

“Seriously?” Marinette asked wondering how they managed to get over their obliviousness. 

Marc nodded. “Yeah, that... happened” he trailed off and Nathan’s gaze snapped at him. 

“What?” Marc asked. “It’s true. Unless…”

Marintte noticed Nathan taking Marc’s hand in his. “No,” Nathan barely whispered and Marinette felt like she had to look away. She turned towards Adrien who smiled at her and she felt her chest feel up with butterflies. She wondered if her and Adrien would one day be like the boys besides her. 

She gazed back at them noticing how calmer they looked as if they just had a long conversation only by gazing into each other's eyes. Marinette could see that Nathaniel still hasn’t let go of Marc’s hand. 

“I should get going,” Adrien said before looking at the boys. “Congratulations!” 

“Thanks,” Marc muttered as his face began flushing again. 

“Bye, everyone,” Adrien said and with that he was gone. Marinette watched him leave and allowed a dreamy sigh to escape her lips. 

“Uhm, Marinette?” Nathan said placing a hand on her shoulder. “You ok?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” She straightened up and put her hands around Marc and Nathaniel’s shoulder moving to stand between them. “I can finally rest. You two have finally got together. I am so proud of you!” 

Nathan rolled his eyes, but Marinette could tell there was no ill-intent. She began walking leading them along as she tried to convince them to tell her the whole story. 

They reached the school gates, but Marinette still had to take her stuff. 

“I’m off here,” Marinette said smiling and the boys nodded. 

“Hey, want to come over for lasagna tonight?” Nathaniel asked as he was looking mostly at Marc. “Mom is still mad at me for skipping class, but if there is someone else there she might go easier on me.”

Marc nodded. “Of course.”

Nathan turned towards Marinette. “Marinette?”

“Oh no,” she said knowing that he had asked only to be polite. She could tell they wanted to be alone together. “Thank you, but I have to be somewhere else tonight.”

Nathan nodded. “Alright,” he said. “See you on Monday.”

They all said their goodbye and Marinette watched as they left hand in hand. 

* * *

Marinette entered the art room on Monday, feeling excited about the new design she wanted to work on. She said hello to everyone and immediately noticed Alix sitting in Marinette’s usual spot. She walked up to her. 

“Hey, Alix.”

“How did you do it?” Alix asked instead of a greeting. Marinette followed her gaze and realized she was looking at Marc and Nathaniel who were chatting. 

It wasn’t an unusual sight, but this time it was different. Marinette couldn’t tell what was different for a few seconds until she noticed how close they were sitting. Nathan’s hand was on Marc’s knee and their shoulders were brushing. She smiled. 

“I didn’t do anything. Ladybug did,” Marinette said. 

Alix rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m sure that Ladybug knew how hopeless those two were and decided to help them.”

“Yep,” Marinette said grinning. 

Alix sighed. “If you don’t want to tell me that’s fine. It doesn’t matter anyway. All that matters is that we don’t have to deal with the romantic tension anymore.”

Marinette smiled and nodded. “I agree.”

She sat down at the table and took out her sketchbook. She flipped to a new page and began drawing. Only a few minutes passed until Alix’ voice got her attention. 

“Where are you two going?” 

Marinette raised her head and noticed Marc and Nathaniel about to leave the classroom holding hands. 

“André’s,” Nathaniel said trying to hide his flushing face, but Alix had seen it anyway. She laughed

“Have fun, lovebirds,” Alix said a little too loud gaining the attention of the other students. 

Nathaniel groaned and dragged Marc away who was wearing a sympathetic smile. Alix shook her head fondly. 

“They are so sickeningly sweet, they almost disgust me,” she said with an honest smile. “Almost.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't resist adding some Adriennete. Now that this is over, thank you to everyone who read and left kudos and comments to this story! It motivated me greatly to see that you enjoyed reading this story! Thank you everyone! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I am not quite done with this ship just yet, so if you want to stick around for a little bit here is my Tumblr @the-bucket-lover! A sneak peak of what is coming is Nathmarc november, not sure if complete, but at least a few days aaaaaaand the most obscure soulmate AU thing, so if you like history and tragedy stick around for that one! 
> 
> PS: I'm so happy that I managed to finish this! This story is the most spontaneous, self-indulgent and coincidentally my most popular work. Thank you to all who made it possible, which is you readers! :D


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